HGW: The New Champion
by HillianLink
Summary: Sometimes, the Legendary Pokemon need some help with the whole keeping peace stuff, especially with the recent worldwide dictatorship. So, they began getting warriors, know as Champions. It started with just a few Champions, but they quickly needed more, until only one legend didn't have one, and that's where Shane comes in, but he's the only male in the Hall of Origin. Yay, great.
1. A Dark Past for a Bright Person

**Hello, and welcome, to my new story. I imagine that some of you may be curious as to what HGW stands for, and if not, you probably should have been. But if you didn't, then it's alright. But, for those curious, HGW stands for Harem Gone Wrong, which is sort of like a second title for this series, if it can be called that, as it is going to be multiple different stories that don't pertain to each other. But, HGW seems like a fairly interesting idea that I came up with, so I decided to do it. What the stories are/will be are the broad idea for a harem story, but I take it and twist it using my wonderful fucked up brain, making it much different. Sounds fun, right? So, essentially what it is, is a harem story where, instead of all of the girls fawning over the main character, they pretty much hate the poor fucker for it. So, yeah, let's get going.**

**So, for this story, if you want a broad idea of what it is about, I advise going and reading BoatingTurtle's story 'Pokemon: Legendary Champion', and if you actually have read that, then bravo. Anyways, I don't own Pokemon, nor do I own pretty much anything else in this story. So, let's kick this shit off._  
_**

**Updated AN:**** I'm back! I mean, seriously, Jay? Did you truly think that I would go down without a fight? Even with your passive aggressive bullshit and your friends lying and saying that they like my story and read it? I mean, really, we all know that that's bullshit, and that the only thing they read in my story were the song lyrics, just to see proof that I should be reported. And, for the record, to RainThatHealsMe, no, no legal action could be taken against anyone, and you would know that if you paid attention to the guidelines as much as you say, and if you new anything about fair use laws, you insignificant dumb ass. And, another little fun fact. I believe that CU will not harass an author, and will only go after one story by them at a time. Literally as soon as this one went down, you started after one of my other stories. So, have fun being a hypocritical piece of garbage, and you and your friends can just fuck off from my stories.**

**Updated AN 2.0: Fine, what the hell ever. I'll drop the lyrics. No, I'm not submitting to CU, nor will I ever. I'm merely doing this because, after getting multiple people that I respect telling me that I should take them out, I decided to do so. But, the song is still staying in. Any issues with that, and you can piss of, because it stays, bitch.**

* * *

**Sometimes, A Dark Past Can Still Make For A Bright Person**

"Nope. Nope. Nada." I said, throwing trash after trash out of the trashcan that I was halfway in. I got out and dusted myself off, saying, "Damn it, and not even any pizza crusts."

My name is Shane Zeich, and I'm a homeless fifteen year old Umbreon-morph. Nice fucking introduction, right? I've been homeless ever since I ran away from home when I was ten, although by the time that I left it wasn't even a home anymore, just a place for me to go to be miserable and get beaten. My father had run off with some cheap whore when I was only one, so I never knew him, but I still hated him, as he left my mother alone to raise me. By the time I was five, my mother was a raging alcoholic, leaving to go to work every day before I was awake and returning sometime around midnight, having already drank away all of the money that she had made, and ready to start beating me senselessly. So I pretty much raised myself. I ended up getting a job to pay for things that I needed. I used the money I earned to go to school, to buy food, and I even ended up saving up enough to buy myself a phone, which I still have, although it hasn't been activated for years, so it's pretty much just my way of listening to music.

I was about to go searching for food in another trashcan, when I heard a female voice yell, "Help me, please!"

I immediately took off running towards the sound, knowing that while I can't fight worth shit, I'd still be the only person that would come and help her, as the people of Black Mesa, along with a fair amount of the rest of the world, doesn't really give a shit about what happened to others, so long as they got what they wanted, and the police force is corrupt and useless. I turned a corner to see five of the previously mentioned cops encircling a woman with black hair with white and silver highlights, and she was wearing black jeans along with a black long-sleeve shirt, with silver stripes at the end of the sleeves.

"C'mon girly," one of the cops said, "just get on your knees and give us what we want and we may leave you alone."

"Please, leave me alone." The women pleaded, backing up until her back hit the wall behind her.

"C'mon," another cop said, "if you play nice, maybe we'll even keep it in; let you get a taste."

_I've had enough of this shit. _

I stepped up behind them and said, "Hey, fuckers." They all whipped around to face me, so I said, "Leave her the hell alone."

They all burst out laughing, a few of them even doubling over and holding their stomach.

"Oh yeah," one of them said, when he finally composed himself, "and who's gonna make us?"

"Me." I said.

_Or at least I hope so. _At this they burst out laughing again, which annoyed the living hell out of me.

"Alright kid," the previous cop said, "c'mon over here and stop us."

I took my phone from my pocket and began scrolling through my music.

"What the hell is this little punk doing now?" One of the cops said, motioning towards me.

"You know the saying," I said, clicking on a song, putting my earbuds in, and dropping my phone back in my pocket, "every superhero needs his theme music."

I took a fighting stance as _Wake Me Up_ by Crown the Empire started playing.

I put my right hand up and did the 'come at me' gesture, and one of the cops rushed at me. I sidestepped him, sticking my foot out as I did, causing him to trip. I took off running at one of the other cops and delivered a quick blow to his stomach, causing him to double over, out of breath. I then nailed him on the back of the head, knocking him onto the ground, dazed. I whipped around to see that the first cop had gotten back up, and he was now brandishing a knife, along with one of his comrades, while the other two left standing were holding nightsticks. One of the ones holding a stick rushed me, swinging, but I caught the weapon and pried it from his grasp and struck him over the head with it, causing him to crumple to the ground, unconscious. I dropped the weapon on the ground just as I was tackled and slammed into the brick wall. The cop that had me pinned started lunging for my throat with his knife, but I brought my knee up and slammed it into his ribs, causing him to back off and double over as I heard a definite crack sound from his chest. I took this as my chance to disable him, so I kicked him in the face, sending him flying onto his back, blood flowing from his nose. I took a moment to catch my breath, but it was cut short when I was grabbed from behind. Without tasking a moment to think, I quickly leapt, still in my assailant's arms, and did a backflip over him, breaking from his grasp. I then kicked him in the back, sending him flying a few feet away from me. I grabbed his arm and pulled it up from his body, before stomping on the elbow joint, breaking the bone, causing him to let out a scream of pain. The man curled up in a ball, holding his arm, as I turned to face the other two, also seeing that the second cop had gotten back up, blood still spurting from his nose, which was bent at an odd angle.

I cracked my neck, before saying, "C'mon then, fuckers."

"Little fucking punk." The injured one said through the blood.

I dashed at the injured cop, knocking his legs out from under him. He fell flat on his face with a groan of pain. I stomped on his head, causing a sickening crack, followed by him lying still. _Holy fuck, did I kill him or just knock him out? _The other two cops, one brandishing a knife and the other a nightstick, rushed at me, both swinging wildly. I managed to dodge the stick fairly easily, but the knife caught me on my shoulder, sending a few jolts of pain through my body as it cut into me, but, thankfully, it didn't feel like a deep cut. I grabbed the cop's wrist as he went to deliver a stab to my arm, but I got the knife from his hand and sent him flying back a few feet. I gripped the knife firmly in my hand and lunged at the other cop, nailing him directly in the shoulder, sending the blade deep into his flesh, until it hit his bone. He dropped his stick and clutched his shoulder in pain, so I did a bicycle kick, connecting with his face and sending him flying back, unconscious. The only cop left standing lunged at me, but I easily dispatched him by knocking his legs out from under him and slamming my fist into his chest as he fell, knocking him unconscious with a few nice sounding cracks coming from his chest.

As the song ended, I took my earbuds out and pocketed them. I bent over, my hands on my knees, panting heavily, but I almost lost my balance as I felt a pair of arms wrap around me.

"Thank you so much for saving me." The woman said, squeezing the breath out of me.

"Um, yeah, no problem," I said, struggling to speak, "now could you please let go, kinda hard to breathe here."

"Oh, right." She said, letting go of me. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright." I said, taking a deep breath.

I looked at the woman and I saw her eyes tracing over me, obviously seeing how my clothes that were multiple sizes too small hugged my body, outlining my ribs perfectly.

"Arceus, when was the last time you ate?" She asked, a concerned look in her eyes.

"Um," I said, rubbing the back of my head, "that depends on what you mean by eat. The last time I ate anything was a few days ago, but the only time I ate an actual meal was about five years ago."

"That's horrible." The woman said. "You must let me buy you some groceries, as a thank you."

"No, don't worry about it," I said, "I'll survive, and besides, you don't need to do anything for me, I just helped because it was the right thing to do."

"C'mon, please let me do something for you." She said. "How about you at least let me take you out to a restaurant for one meal?"

I thought about it for a few seconds, before saying, "Alright, if you really want to."

"Yay!" The woman cheered, leaping into the air. "You choose a place; I'm new to this city."

I chuckled before saying, "Well then let me be the first to welcome you to this wonderful little cesspit that is Black Mesa."

"Yeah," she said, laughing, "it seems like such a great place to be."

"Yep." I said. "Now c'mon, I know this little hole-in-the-wall café near here that's fucking awesome."

"Lead the way." The woman responded.

We walked through the city in silence, not that we would have been able to hear each other to begin with, with all of the sounds of city life, along with the sounds of crimes occurring almost constantly. It took us about ten minutes to reach the restaurant, having to dodge cars running red lights multiple times. When we entered the café I saw a Gardevoir-morph behind the counter, and I could see that she was doing a crossword puzzle.

"Hey Stella." I said, waving to her when we entered.

She looked up from the puzzle and looked at us, before saying, "Why if it isn't my favorite customer. How've you been, sweetie?"

I shrugged and said, "Not too bad, I guess."

"C'mon, you know you can't fool me." She said, "I can see every rib on your body. You haven't been eating well, have you?"

"Well, living on the streets doesn't really secure me three meals a day, so not really." I said.

"Oh, you know you can always come by here and I would give you some food." Stella said.

"You know that I couldn't do that and not feel guilty, Stella." I said. "I know how things have been for you recently, and I can't imagine that Ben getting sick has helped much."

"Ah, so you heard about that." She said. She sighed, saying, "Yeah, it hasn't really helped too much, but I can manage, so long as he pulls through it."

"Isn't there medicine for it?" I asked.

"Yeah, but it costs almost ten thousand dollars." She said, sighing. "Anyway, what brings you here today?"

"Believe it or not," I said, motioning to the woman, "my friend and I have come to have some lunch."

"I was wondering if you knew that you had a shadow." Stella said, coming out from behind the counter and walking over to us. She stuck her hand out and said, "Hello, my name is Stella, and I run this fine establishment."

The woman shook her hand and said, "Diana."

_So that's her name. I probably should have asked her at some point, but that seemed to resolve itself._

"It's nice to meet you Diana." Stella said. "So, if you two want to get yourself a booth, I'll go grab some menus."

We sat at the booth closest to the door, and I took this chance to look around, seeing that we were the only customers. Stella came back a minute later, two menus in hand, and sat them down in front of us before walking away.

"Wow," Diana said, looking around, "it looks like hole-in-the-wall is right. We're the only people here."

I shrugged and said, "Yeah, but sometimes unknown and small means some of the best food, and this is absolutely a case of that."

"So I've heard." She said. "So, since you are obviously this city's local food connoisseur, what do you suggest getting?"

I thought for a second, before saying, "Have you ever had home-made Farfetch'd soup and homemade milkshakes?"

"No, I have not," Diana replied, "but that sounds really good."

"Very well." I said. I raised my voice slightly to where it could be heard in the rest of the café, before saying, "Stella, if you're free, we are ready to order."

Stella came over and said, "Honey, you know I'm always free around here. What'll it be?"

"Two of your number fives, with two chocolate shakes, please." I said.

"Alright kiddo, that'll be right out." She said, before going through the door behind the counter.

"So, what exactly do you mean by homemade?" Diana asked.

"Well," I said, "Stella and her husband live on a farm outside of the city, and everything she uses to make food comes from there, so it's not only home-made, but it's also home-grown."

"Cool." She said. "So, who was that Ben person that you were talking about?"

"Oh, that's her son." I said. "He's currently sixteen and he's had Pokerus ever since he was nine."

"But I thought that Pokerus only affects Pokemon." Diana said. "And isn't it actually a good thing?"

"It can actually affect morphs in rare occasions." I said. "And it's anything but good to them. It can be fatal in some cases, it could just put the afflicted in a coma in other cases, or it could just make them really sick, it all depends on which strain you get. And, of course, Ben has the one that can kill you, which is just such good luck for Stella."

"Wow." Diana said. "That must be horrible."

"I imagine it is." I said, sighing. "I used to hang out with the kid, but since he got sick he's been bed ridden. I spoke to him a few times over the phone a few years ago, and he sounded really bummed out about it. They've been trying to save up enough money for the medicine, but it's really expensive for any strain, and the fatal one is the most expensive."

"That sucks." Diana said. "Here, why don't we try to get on a different topic? I never caught your name earlier."

"Shane." I said. "Shane Zeich."

"That's an odd last name." She said.

I shrugged and said, "Well, it's actually just one that I came up with on my own. I never really wanted to go by either of my parent's last names."

"Well why not?" Diana asked.

I sighed and said, "That's a story that I don't really want to get into right now. Let's just leave it at my dad wasn't really good at his job and my mother and I never saw eye to eye, mostly because she always saw through the bottom of a bottle and I only ever saw through puffed up flesh."

"Oh." She said. "I'm sorry."

I shrugged and said, "Meh, don't be. It's all in the past."

Diana opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Stella coming over with a tray of food.

"Here you go." She said, sitting the food on the table.

"Thanks Stella." I said.

"My pleasure, hun." She said, going back to the counter. "Just pay on your way out."

I ate a spoonful of my soup and sighed as I felt the warm, delicious liquid hit my tongue, before falling down my throat.

"Wow, this is really good." Diana said, taking a bite of her own.

I laughed, before saying, "I told you it was."

"Well, you certainly weren't lying." She said.

We continued eating, making small talk the whole time. When we were both done we sat our dishes back on the tray.

"That was one of the best meals I've had in a long time." Diana said.

I laughed, saying, "Yeah, Stella's an awesome cook. Anyway, we should probably go ahead and pay."

"Of course." Diana said, grabbing the ticket. "Don't worry about it, I said I'll take care of it and I will."

"C'mon, at least let me cover the tip." I said.

"No, I said that I'll get all of it," she said, "and I will."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black wallet. She opened it and pulled out a twenty, before sitting it on the table.

"Anyway, shall we leave now?" She asked.

"Sure." I said, standing up.

Diana stood as well and began walking towards the door, saying, "Bye Stella, it was nice meeting you."

"See you two later." Stella replied.

Pausing for a second before leaving, I pulled a ten dollar bill, the only money in my possession, out of my pocket, before sitting it on the table with the twenty. _Not like I'll need it where I'm going._ I then followed Diana out of the restaurant. When I exited, I saw Diana standing a few feet away, to my right, so I went over to her.

"Listen, it's been really nice meeting you," she said, "and I can't thank you enough for saving me, but I have an appointment soon."

"It's alright." I said. "If you need to go, then you need to go."

"Thank you again for saving me." She said, hugging me, standing on her toes slightly as I was a few inches taller than her. As she pulled away, she said, "And always remember Shane, your past doesn't decide your future. As you've proven today, sometimes a dark past can still make for a bright person."

As soon as she pulled away, she turned around and took off running down an alleyway to the right. I followed her, wanting to ask her what she meant, but when I turned the corner I was greeted with a dead end.

"What the fuck?" I said, completely confused. "Where the hell did she go?"

I went down the alley to see if there was some door that I couldn't see, but found nothing. Deciding that it'd probably be better to just leave it alone, I left and began walking down the street.

* * *

I was sitting on the top of a tower, the tallest building in Black Mesa. I looked down and saw the ground, a dizzying fifty stories down.

"This tower should prove to help with what I'm trying to accomplish." I said. I laughed, and said, "Arceus, that sounded so fucking stupid."

I sat there, thinking. Thinking about my life, about my mother, but most of all, thinking about what has led me to this moment. As I was about to stand up, I had a thought.

"Fuck it; I've always liked stupid little dramatics, and besides, I'm pretty good at singing." I said. "That, and this seems fairly fitting."

I took my phone from my pocket and put my earbuds in. I then put on Bullet by Hollywood Undead, and started singing along with it.

_My legs are dangling off the edge,  
The bottom of the bottle is my only friend,  
I think I'll slit my wrists again and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone.  
My legs are dangling off the edge,  
A stomach full of pills didn't work again,  
I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone._

_Gone too far and yeah I'm gone again,_  
_It's gone on too long, tell you how it ends,_  
_I'm sitting on the edge with my 2 best friends,_  
_Ones a bottle of pills, ones a bottle of gin,_  
_I'm 20 stories up, yeah I'm up at the top,_  
_I'll polish off this bottle, now it's pushing me off,_  
_Asphalt to me has never looked so soft,_  
_I bet my momma found my letter, now shes calling the cops,_  
_I gotta take this opportunity before I miss it,_  
_'Cause now I hear the sirens and they're off in the distance,_  
_Believe me when I tell you that I've been persistent,_  
_'Cause I'm more scarred, more scarred than my wrist is,_  
_I've been trying too long, with too dull of a knife,_  
_But tonight I made sure that I sharpened it twice,_  
_I never bought a suit before in my life,_  
_But when you go to meet God, you know you wanna look nice._

_So if I survive, then I'll see you tomorrow, yeah I'll see you tomorrow._

_My legs are dangling off the edge,_  
_The bottom of the bottle is my only friend,_  
_I think I'll slit my wrists again and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone,_  
_My legs are dangling off the edge,_  
_A stomach full of pills didn't work again,_  
_I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone._

_We hit the sky, there goes the light, no more sun, why's it always night?_  
_When you can't sleep, well, you can't dream,_  
_When you can't dream, well, what's life mean?_  
_We feel a little pity, but don't empathize_  
_The old are getting older, watch a young man die,_  
_A Mother and a Son and someone you know, smile at each other and realize you don't,_  
_You don't know what happened to that kid you raised,_  
_What happened to the Father, who swore he'd stay?_  
_I didn't know 'cause you didn't say,_  
_Now Momma feels guilt, yeah Momma feels pain,_  
_When you were young, you never thought you'd die,_  
_Found that you could but too scared to try,_  
_You looked in the mirror and you said goodbye,_  
_Climb to the roof to see if you could fly._

_So if I survive, then I'll see you tomorrow, yeah I'll see you tomorrow._

_My legs are dangling off the edge,_  
_The bottom of the bottle is my only friend,_  
_I think I'll slit my wrists again and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone,_  
_My legs are dangling off the edge,_  
_A stomach full of pills didn't work again,_  
_I'll put a bullet in my head and I'm gone, gone, gone, gone._

_I wish that I could fly, way up in the sky,_  
_Like a bird so high,_  
_Oh I might just try,_  
_I wish that I could fly, way up in the sky,_  
_Like a bird so high,_  
_Oh I might just try,_  
_Oh I might just try._

As the song ended, I took my earbuds out and pocketed them. I stood up, sighing and looked over the edge again, resisting the sense of vertigo. I stood at the edge, completely rigid, before stepping off with my right foot, and beginning my descent, the wind whipping around me, until I felt a large amount of force on my whole body and faded into blackness.

* * *

**So, this was fun, and possibly slightly depressing. I don't know if it was, but if you read the aforementioned story, than you know where this is going. And, before anyone yells at me for it, I know that the main character is normally a human, but I didn't want to do that, so if that keeps you from enjoying the story, then too bad. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, as I can't wait to get going on this idea, as it is awesome, in my opinion. Till next time, I'm HillianLink, and I approve this message.**


	2. Y'know, You're Really Fucking Weird

**Told you that it'd be updated soon. Anyway, happy late Easter, I guess. I don't know, for me it was just another Sunday, except for the fact that all of my friends were off with their family, while I was sitting at home, alone, writing all day. Yeah. I spent my Easter writing, as in, the entire chapter you are about to read was completely written on Easter, the only thing that wasn't being the head and foot notes, which I'm currently writing on Monday morning. I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter, now double the length (for the record, I'm not kidding, the last chapter was a little over 4k, notes included, while this one is 8.7k, notes not included).**

* * *

**Y'know, you're really fucking weird**

I woke up to see a white ceiling, lit up with white hospital-esque lighting that seemed to come from nowhere. I sat up, sore all over my body, and looked around. I was sitting in what actually did resemble a large hospital wing, with multiple hospital beds stretching to my left until it hit a wall. The room that I was in seemed to be completely made of white marble, with a white door at the far end of it, along with a few doors on the wall opposite me. I swung my feet off of the side of my own bed, my black combat boots hitting the floor rather loudly.

"Wow," I said, my voice echoing in the empty room, "I never expected sub-circle two to be so white. And clean, for that matter."

"Well, that's because you aren't in the Forest of Suicide, Shane." I heard a familiar voice say.

I turned towards the door to see Diana standing there, holding a black backpack and a pair of shoes similar to mine.

"Diana," I said, "what are you doing here?" As soon as I said this, what she said sunk in and I asked, "Wait, then where the hell am I?"

"You are in the infirmary of the Hall of Origins." She said, walking over to me.

"Okay then," I said, "why am I here?"

Diana sighed, before saying, "I advise you sit down, as this may be quite odd."

"Umm, okay." I said, sitting back down on the hospital bed. "I'm all ears."

She sat the bag and shoes on the ground at the foot of my bed before saying, "First, I should probably return to one of my other forms, as a visual may aid you in understanding the situation."

I sat there, confused as to what she meant, as a swirling black aura appeared around her. When it cleared, Diana was gone, and in her place was Darkrai herself, wearing the exact same clothes that Diana was.

"What the hell?" I asked, shocked.

"What's the matter," Darkrai asked, obviously relishing in my reaction, "have you never seen a legend before?"

"What the hell happened to Diana?" I asked.

"Well, to put it simply, I am Diana." She said, before sitting down on the bed next to mine.

"W-what?" I asked, completely baffled.

Darkrai sighed, before saying, "Here, let me start at the beginning. As you can tell, I am Darkrai, one of the legendary Pokemon and the reaper of souls. I, along with my fellow legends, have three different forms, a human one, a morph one, and a standard Pokemon one, all of which we can change into at our leisure. While we normally are in our morph form, we do occasionally switch to our human forms to roam the world of the mortals, and mine is Diana. Are you following me so far?"

"Um, yeah." I said, still confused. "But that still doesn't explain the reason as to why the hell I'm in the Hall of Origins. I mean, I killed myself, for Arceus' sake. Shouldn't I be in Hell instead of the home of the gods?"

"I was getting to that." Darkrai said. "Just listen and I shall explain. I assume that you have noticed the fact that the whole world has been taken under control by an allied group of gangs, correct?" I nodded, so she continued, "Well, I imagine that you also know that, other than their normal tasks, it is also the legends job to maintain balance and peace all across the world. But, as of late, these gangs have made it rather difficult for us to do so effectively, so we have enlisted in some help, in the form of mortals who possess traits that we think will aid in our task of keeping peace. These mortals are called Champions, and when they become Champions we make them Demi-legends, to where they never age, but are not completely immortal. The Champions are personally chosen by one of the thirty five legends to be offered the chance to leave their life behind and be trained by the legend to become a skilled warrior, who will then serve the legends in our mission. Are you still following me?"

"Yeah, I think so." I said. "But what does any of this have to do with me?"

"I was getting to that." She said. "All of the other legends have chosen a Champion by now, but I have yet to do so, as I am slightly pickier than the others. You see, my job as the reaper has made me truly see the different sides of mortals and how they behave under different circumstances, along with their true emotions, so I have learned by now that you cannot always judge someone by how they react to one thing, so I have been searching for the perfect person to be my Champion. And I believe that that person is you, Shane."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "Why me? What have I done to convince you that I'd be a good Champion?"

"Well," Darkrai said, "I have watched you for many years now, carefully scrutinizing everything that I have seen you do, and I believe that you would make a wonderful Champion."

"Don't I have to be a good fighter to be a Champion?" I asked. "I mean, all of that shit in the alley was just a fluke. I went in there not expecting to come out alive."

"I already knew this," she said, "which only helps to prove my point. You threw yourself into danger, a danger that you had never hoped of surviving, just to help a random woman that you had never even said a word to."

"Okay then." I said. "So what, am I just a Champion now, or something?"

"No, not quite yet." She said. "As I said, you are offered this. If you do not accept, then I will allow you to continue to where you were originally intended to go, with this entire conversation completely wiped from your memory. So, this leads me to my question: would you like to become my Champion, and to help myself and the other legends maintain peace in the world?"

I thought about it for a second, before sighing and saying, "Fuck it, I'm already dead, might as well."

"Awesome!" Darkrai yelled, before wrapping her arms around me. She let go of me and said, "That means that I need to give you your uniform."

"Uniform?" I asked, curious.

"Don't worry," she said, picking up the backpack and shoes and sitting them on my bed, "I promise that you'll like it. And I even got you some now boots, seeing as yours are looking pretty beat up"

"Okay then," I said, getting up and grabbing the bag and shoes, "so, where do I go to change?"

"There's a bathroom over there." She said pointing to one of the doors on the wall near me.

"Alright." I said, entering one.

"Oh, and I advise that you take a quick shower as well!" Darkrai yelled from the other side of the door. "No one likes the smell of death."

"Alright!" I yelled back.

I took my phone from my pocket and sat it on the sink counter, along with the backpack and shoes. I then stripped down, leaving my clothes in a pile in the floor, and got in the shower, turning the water on. I shivered as the cold water hit me, soaking my fur in a matter of seconds. I kept the water cold, always preferring it anyways, and began bathing. When I was finished, I got out, shaking myself slightly to help dry off. I opened the cabinet under the sink and found it stocked with towels, so I got one out and began drying off. When I was done, I threw the towel in the hamper next to the sink, before grabbing the bag an opening it up. I started taking the clothes out, and as I got deeper into it, I began to recognize them.

"Um, Darkrai," I said, "what's with the clothes?"

"What's the matter, do you not like them?" She said back.

"It's not that," I said, "Trust me, I like them. But they seem slightly familiar."

"Yeah, I know. I sorta planned for that." She said, laughing.

I sighed, before beginning to get dressed. When I was dressed, I put my phone in my pocket, pulled my new boots on, and, seeing nothing else to do with them, shoved my old clothes and shoes in the backpack. I threw the bag over my shoulder, before exiting the bathroom.

"See," Darkrai said, still sitting on the bed, "I knew that you'd look good in them."

I sighed, before saying, "Okay then."

I was currently clad in a pair of black jeans and a black tank top, with a single black sleeve going down my left arm, topped with a black shoulder pad with a Luxray shaped doorknocker-esque attachment on the front.

I sighed, saying, "Are you kidding me with this? You do recognize this outfit, right?"

"Of course I do. I mean, I am the one who designed it, along with your weapon. Which reminds me, wait here." She said, before dashing out of the room.

"I swear to fucking Arceus," I said, through gritted teeth, "she better not fucking come back with what I think she will."

She returned a few minutes later, a long, broad package in her hands.

"Here you go." She said, handing me the wrapped weapon.

I sighed, saying, "I know what it is, don't I?"

"Yeah, probably." She said, sheepishly.

I opened the packaging, revealing, as I had guessed, a large buster sword, with a black obsidian blade.

"Yep." I said, sighing. "Fucking thought so."

"Aww c'mon," Darkrai said, nudging me with her elbow, "don't say you don't like."

I sighed and said, "Okay, your right, I do like it."

"That's the spirit." She said. "Now c'mon, you've gotta go meet your fellow Champions."

"Alright then." I said. "What do I do with the sword?"

"First off," Darkrai said, "never refer to your weapon as 'the sword'. You need to give it a name."

"Umm, okay." I said, starting to think of a suitable name for my weapon. After a few minutes, I decided on one, saying it aloud, "Strife."

At this, Darkrai laughed, saying, "Well, look who's getting into the costume now." When she finally stopped laughing, she said, "Okay, now you have two choices. You can either just keep it with you or you can make it dematerialize and call it to you when you want it."

"Okay, how do I do the second option?" I asked.

"Well, you pretty much just tell it to disappear, and it will." She said. "And when you want it back, just tell it to reappear. None of the Champions have been able to at first, but why don't you go ahead and give it a try?"

"Alright." I said. I held the sword out and said, "Strife, leave me." To my astonishment, Strife actually disappeared in a flash of white light, so I said, "Strife, return." This caused my weapon to reappear in my hand, with another flash of light, prompting me to say, "That's fucking cool."

"Wow," Darkrai said, "I can't believe that that actually worked. A weapon doesn't normally obey the owner until they have proven themselves in battle, which prompts the weapon to trust the wielder. Strife must really trust you for some reason."

"I wonder why," I said, "seeing as I can't fight worth shit. Anyways, as cool as that is, I'd prefer to keep Strife on me, so I would I go about doing that?"

"Well, just act like you're going to put it in a holster on your back and it should pretty much just stick to you." She said.

I did as I was told, and as I felt the blade touch my shirt, Strife seemed to become attached to the shirt itself.

"Okay," I said, "once again, that's pretty fucking cool."

"And, once again, I told you so." Darkrai said.

"Really? Because I don't remember you saying that." I said.

"Okay then, I thought it, same thing." Darkrai said. "Anyway, let's go. You can just leave the bag here; it'll be taken care of."

"Okay then." I said, dropping the bag on the ground, before following Darkrai out of the far door and into a completely white hallway. As we started walking, I asked, "So, is there anything that I should know before I meet the others?"

"Well, just one minor thing." She said.

"Okay, shoot." I said.

"Well, they're kinda all females." Darkrai said.

I froze in my tracks, saying, "What?"

Darkrai stopped as well and looked back at me, before saying, "Yeah, you're the only male. Sorry."

"Okay," I said, "and why is this exactly?"

"Well, as you probably don't know, all of the legends are females," she said, "so the others all decided that it would be best to choose someone that they could more closely bond with and relate to."

"Wait, all of the legends are girls?" I asked. "But almost all of the history books say that some are males. Hell, they even say that you're a guy."

"Well, as you can see, that's not true." Darkrai said. "You need to keep in mind that all of this knowledge was discovered by mortals when the world was still a male biased world, so a lot of things were changed, and obviously they couldn't stand the thought of their gods being females, so they changed the facts, and the truth was just lost in time."

"Well, that's fucking weird." I said, as we started walking again.

"Meh, you sorta get used to it." Darkrai said.

"So, how do you think that the others will react to a guy being your Champion?" I asked as we neared a large arched opening in the wall to my left.

"Y'know, I'm not quite sure." She said. "Especially since nobody, not even Arceus knows."

"Well, then this should be fun." I said.

We turned through the opening, and I found myself in a large white room, filled with other morphs, and within a matter of seconds, seventy sets of eyes were locked onto me.

"Yep, pretty fun." Darkrai said, nervously. "I hope you aren't shy."

A phoenix, stepped out of the crowd, before saying, "Darkrai, what is this male doing here?

_Well, that sounds pretty fucking sexist._

"Oh, Moltres, um," Darkrai said, "this is Shane. Say hello Shane."

"Hello." I said, waving nervously.

"I didn't ask its name," Moltres said, "I asked what the hell it's doing here."

_Wait. It?_

"Um, you do realize she just said my name, correct?" I said. "And besides that, I'm not an it, as we've just established."

"Shut up, male! If I wanted you to talk, I would have told you to!" Moltres yelled, before sending a blast of fire from her beak, aimed directly at me.

I stood there, the fire flying at me, but right before it hit me, Darkrai stepped in front of me and stuck her hand out, blocking the fire, to where all I felt was a minor increase in temperature.

"Do not speak to him or treat him that way!" Darkrai yelled, when the flames cleared. "And if my Champion would prefer to be called his name rather than referred to as if he were some object, then that should be honored."

Moltres froze, before saying, "What did you just call that thing?"

"I called him what he is." Darkrai responded, sternly. "My Champion."

The effect was immediate. There was an uproar, the room seeming to explode in noises of outrage, and the few things I could pick up seemed to be along the lines of insulting me, calling me a disgusting beast, and some slightly incoherent shouting about some tradition.

This went on for a minute or so, before the crowd was silenced by a voice yelling, "Silence!"

At this, the room grew silent, as a white stag, walked forward.

"Darkrai," she said, stepping towards us, "are you sure this is the one you want?"

"Yes, lady Arceus," Darkrai said, nodding, "and he has already agreed, and he has already receive his gear."

"Very well then." Arceus said, nodding in return. She raised her voice, saying, "Darkrai has chosen Shane to be her Champion, and so it shall be. If there are any complaints, I advise you get over them, as you have no say in the matter and complaining will accomplish nothing."

Darkari bowed slightly, and signaled for me to do the same.

I did so, and Darkrai said, "Thank you, lady Arceus. And I promise you, you won't be disappointed in him."

Arceus walked past us, towards the door, saying, "I should hope not, or else there will be consequences."

_That doesn't sound very nice. _Almost as soon as Arceus left the room, the noise picked back up, with the same insults flying around, now accompanied by sounds of outrage at Arceus allowing me to become a Champion.

"Enough!" a voice yelled, quieting the crowd again. All eyes turned towards a bright blue bird at the front of the crowd, who said, "Lady Arceus has allowed it, and no matter how much we disagree with her choice, it is not under our jurisdiction to alter it, therefore I advise we drop it." The speaker then turned to Darkrai, saying, "Do not worry, I have faith that you have chosen well."

"Thank you Articuno." Darkrai said. "Now, if you all would excuse us, I am going to go give Shane a tour of the Hall."

No one said anything else, so Darkrai turned around and exited the room, with me following her closely. By the time we were a few feet from the door, I already heard the crowd start up again. _Holy shit, they really don't like me._

When we were back in front of the infirmary door, Darkrai sighed, before saying, "I can't believe that they're being that fucking sexist."

"Yeah, they didn't seem too pleased about this." I said. "What were they talking about with a tradition?"

"Oh, nothing." She said, waving her hand. "That's just some made up bullshit that they thought of. Since all of the other Champions are female; they decided to start calling it a tradition, but it's all a fucking lie."

I could almost feel how angry Darkrai was, so I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, saying, "Calm down, it's not that big of a deal."

She shook of my arm off and said, "Yes, it is. They were treating me like I can't make my own decisions, and they were treating you like some disgusting piece of shit that they kicked off of their shoes, and that's not even bringing into account the fact that they'll start getting their own Champions to treat you like that. Doesn't that make you even slightly angry?"

"No, not really." I said. "But you have to remember, I've been treated like that my whole life, so a few more people doing so doesn't really affect me."

Darkrai sighed, before saying, "I guess you're right. I'm sorry for forgetting that, and I'm sorry for snapping at you. It's just that their bullshit infuriate me sometimes."

"It's alright, I understand." I said. "Now, what was that about showing me around?"

"Oh, right." Darkrai said. "I almost forgot. Well, as you already know, this door here leads to the infirmary, which is run by the Eon duo, Celibi, and Shaymin. While we normally just use Heal Pulse for any injuries, if it's something as serious as a broken bone, then they don't feel comfortable doing it, as they are worried that they'll mess up and cause even more damage, so we use normal ways of fixing them, such as casts."

"So, what's the most serious injury that you guys have had to deal with?" I asked.

She thought for a second, before saying, "Well, I remember a few years ago Chelsea, Moltres's Champion, ended up breaking both of her arms in a five on one fight that she thought she could win. Ever since then, anything larger than a team of two against a solo fighter has been banned."

"Owch." I said. "That sounds painful."

Darkrai shrugged, saying, "I don't know, it may have been. She wasn't awake to feel it. They broke as soon as she hit the ground, and the force knocked her out as well."

"Okay, well before I change my mind about being a Champion," I said, "why don't we continue on with the tour?"

"Okay." She said. We started walking, as she said, "The room we were previously in was the meeting room, although we rarely use it."

"Then why was everyone in it?" I asked.

"They were actually having a meeting for once." She said.

"Why weren't you there?" I asked.

"Well, for starters, I was waiting for you to wake up." Darkrai said. "That, and pretty much every meeting has to do with Champion tasks, and since I didn't have a Champion until today, I just never go."

"Alright then." I said, as we turned a corner.

As we continued walking, we drew closer to a pair of white double doors.

"And this," Darkrai said, opening said doors, "is the courtyard."

The doors swung open, revealing a large stretch of grass, with a pond in the center, and a large oak tree in the center of that. On the left and right side of the courtyard were walls, showing that the Hall itself made a partial square around the yard. Directly across from me was a forest, stretching as far as I could see.

"Holy shit." I said, breathlessly.

Darkrai giggled, saying, "Pretty cool, right?"

"Are you kidding me?" I said. "I've never seen this much greenery in one place, and I've never seen any that didn't look like it was dying. Even the nicest park in Mesa doesn't have shit on this place."

"Thank you," a voice said behind us, "I try to keep it as nice as possible."

We turned around to see a small green fairy hovering behind us, a smile on its face.

"So I see." I said.

"I don't believe we ever got a proper introduction." She said, sticking her small hand out. "I'm Celebi, the guardian of the forests."

"Shane Zeich." I said, shaking her hand.

"Well, unlike my fellow legends, I must say that it is nice to meet you, Shane." Celebi said. "And I hope that you don't hate the others for what they said; there just not used to the idea of a male being around. I'm sure that once they get to know you, they'll warm up to you."

"I hope so." I said, sighing. "So, did you have to actually plant any of these trees, or are they all natural?"

"Well, contrary to popular belief," Celebi said, "the Hall of Origins isn't in some other realm; it's actually just hidden deep in this natural forest."

"Yep, and Celebi here helps with that." Darkrai said. "She uses her powers to keep the forest alive, which has caused a lot of Pokemon to migrate to it and make their homes in it, and they all help keep this place hidden."

We were suddenly interrupted by a Meganium-morph, clad in white jeans and green shirt, and a Mawile-morph, wearing gray sweat pants and a black shirt, rushed past us, knocking Darkrai off of her feet, but I caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Thanks." She said, standing back up.

"Maggie! Alexis! Come back here!" Celebi yelled after the duo.

They skidded to a halt, before turning around and coming back.

"We've taught you better than that." Celebi said, sternly. "Had Shane not caught her, Darkrai could have gotten hurt. Now, what do you think you were doing?"

"Sorry," the Meganium said, head down, "Alexis and I were just really eager to get outside, and I guess we just didn't notice you."

"Very well," Celebi said, "now, I want you to apologize."

They both sighed, before saying, in unison, "We're sorry Lady Celebi. We're sorry Lady Darkrai."

"I want you to apologize to Shane, as well." Celebi said, crossing her arms over her chest.

The Meganium, Maggie, opened her mouth, most likely to argue, but Celebi shot a glare at her, causing her to reconsider.

Sighing, Maggie said, "I'm sorry, Shane."

Celebi nodded, before turning to the Mawile, Alexis, and saying, "I didn't hear you apologize."

Alexis looked up, smirking, and said, "And I won't. A male doesn't deserve my apology."

"I am a legendary," Celebi said, taken aback, "and I am therefore superior to you. So apologize."

"No." Alexis said. "You may be a legend, but you aren't mine. Just because I apologized to you doesn't mean that you can make me apologize to that filth."

As soon as this left her mouth, the two girls took off running towards the forest.

"What the hell did she just say to me?" Celebi said, clearly outraged. "Just because she's not my Champion doesn't mean that she doesn't have to listen to me."

She moved to fly after them, but Darkrai grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Calm down, Celebi." She said. "It doesn't matter. You know that she wasn't trying to disrespect you, only Shane."

_Well then._

"Still, I don't care." Celebi said, trying to pull out of Darkrai's grasp. "She has no right to act like that."

She ended up wriggling from Darkrai's grip, taking off over the forest after the girls.

As she disappeared from our sight, Darkrai sighed, saying, "Arceus, Alexis is going to be in a lot of trouble."

"I imagine." I said. "Thanks for that nice little confidence booster, by the way."

"Sorry about that." She said. "But we both know that I'm right."

"Yep." I said, sighing. "So who's Champions are they anyway?"

"Well, Maggie is Celebi's, while Alexis is Jirachi's." Darkrai said. "C'mon, let's just continue with the tour."

"Alright." I said.

We went back inside, closing the door behind us, and continued walking. We eventually came to an opening similar to the one for the meeting room, so we entered it. The room itself, along with the contents of it, mimicked a high school cafeteria, with multiple large flat screen TVs hanging on the walls.

"As I imagine you can guess," Darkrai said, "this is the cafeteria. All of the legends take turns cooking meals, while the Champions take turns taking care of the dishes."

"So I assume that I'll have to help with that." I said.

"Well, not immediately." Darkrai said. "When a new Champion arrives, we always give them a month or two to get settled in and begin their training, and when that time is up they have to join in and help with chores."

"Although, I still wish that Arceus would reconsider the cooking routine." A voice said behind us.

We turned around to see a pink cat standing behind us.

"Seriously, would people please stop sneaking up on us," Darkrai said, "it's starting to get annoying."

"Sorry." The cat said, walking around to stand in front of us. "I didn't realize that it had happened once already." She turned to me, and said, "Hello Shane, I'm Mew, the best cook here."

"Hi." I said, waving slightly. "So, if you're the best cook here, then what's your issue with the cooking schedule?"

Mew sighed, saying, "The title of best cook isn't me bragging, trust me, it's the one that everyone here has given me. And because of this, I cook more than double the amount of times that anyone else does, and it gets pretty fucking tiring."

"Well, I could always help out if you want." I offered. "I mean, I've had to cook my own meals pretty much my whole life, so it wouldn't be too difficult."

"Really?" Mew said. She wrapped me in a hug, saying, "Thank you so much."

"Yeah," I said, "I just don't advise telling anyone that I had anything to do with the food, or else they probably won't eat it."

"Yeah," Mew said, "they don't seem to enjoy the thought of you being here. I already heard Palkia talk about trying to start a petition to get you kicked out."

"Wow," I said, "first day here and they already want to deport me and send me to Hell."

"I wouldn't say that they want the last part." Mew said.

I shrugged, saying, "Technically, whether they know it or not, they do."

Mew opened her mouth, most likely to ask what I meant, but she was cut off by Darkrai saying, "Well, it's been nice talking to you Mew, but we've gotta run. Y'know, still more of the Hall to see."

She then rushed me out of the room, leaving a confused Mew standing there.

When we were a little ways away from the cafeteria, Darkrai turned to me and said, "What the hell do you think you were doing?"

"Telling the truth." I said. "I mean, I'm already dead, so if they did kick me out, then I would no longer be a Champion and I would therefore be sent to Hell."

"Well, yeah," Darkrai said, "but we aren't supposed to mess with natural occurrences, such as disaster, disease, or death, so you're the only person here who's technically dead, and I could get into a lot of trouble if they ever found out. You have to remember, I'm the only one who even knew that you existed, so no one knows that you're dead."

"Okay, okay, I get it." I said. "I can't let anyone know about how I got here. So, how did the other Champions become Champions?"

"Just by us contacting them and offering the role to them." Darkrai said. "Now c'mon, there are still a few more places for me to show you."

"Lead the way." I said.

She led me down the halls, to another set of double doors. She opened them, revealing a large, white, circular room, with large balconies about halfway up the walls, surrounding the room, each with a ladder leading up to it.

"This is the Electronic Simulation Training Room, or, as she likes to be called, ESTR." Darkrai said.

"ESTR?" I asked, confused.

Suddenly, a hologram of a young girl appeared in front of me, startling me.

"Hello Lady Darkrai." The girl said. "May I ask who this man is?"

"Hey ESTR." Darkrai said. "He is my new Champion."

The hologram, ESTR, looked up at me; interest plastered on her face, and said, "Woah, a guy Champion? I didn't even know that those existed."

Darkrai laughed, before saying, "Well, they don't normally, but Shane here is the first. Why don't you introduce yourself, Shane?"

"Right." I said, nodding. "Hello ESTR, I'm Shane, it's nice to meet you."

"It is nice to meet you as well." She said, nodding. She then turned to Darkrai, and said, "So, Lady Darkrai, would you like for me to add him to the roster and leader board?"

"That would be nice," Darkrai responded, "thank you."

ESTR nodded, before saying, "Very well, one moment please."

She then disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a few blue particles, which soon followed.

"Okay, she is pretty fucking cool." I said. "But what does she mean by leader board?"

"Thank you." ESTR said, reappearing in front of me momentarily, before disappearing again.

"Well," Darkrai said, "in here we only have one training simulation currently, which only tests speed, and it started off as just a way to pass the time. But, the other Champions quickly decided to start competing in it, timing themselves and comparing times, but this lead to arguments about whether or not they were legitimate or not. So, to help stop the quarrels, Arceus had a leader board installed in here for the practice, but the girls eventually started using this room for mock battles, so a leader board was set up for those as well."

"Cool." I said. "This place is really fucking advanced."

"Well, of course it is," Darkrai said, "I mean, we are legends."

Suddenly, ESTR appeared before us, and said, "All done. Shane Zeich is now added to the Champion roster, along with your name, Lady Darkrai, and he has been added to both leader boards."

"Thank you." Darkrai said, nodding towards ESTR.

"Wait, how did she know my last name?" I asked.

"I can read the genetic information of every person who enters here," ESTR said, "along with their stats. And, while it was slightly difficult, as Zeich isn't your real name, I was still able to find it out."

"How did you do that?" I asked, amazed.

ESTR shrugged, saying, "I don't know, I was just searching through your info and I found it."

"Okay, even I have to say that I don't know how that happened." Darkrai said. "Anyways, would you like to check out the leader boards?"

"Sure." I said, shrugging.

"ESTR, pull up both leader boards please." Darkrai said.

"Yes, Lady Darkrai." ESTR said, disappearing again.

"So," I said, "I noticed that all of you are being addressed with the term 'Lady' in front of it. Should I start doing that, as well?"

"Well, we don't normally have anyone do it," Darkrai said, "unless, of course, they are in trouble. ESTR just does it by choice, as no one forces her to. While I don't care if you do or not, and it doesn't seem like Celebi and Mew would either, I'd still do it to the other legendaries, seeing as they already seem to not like you."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." I said.

Suddenly, two leader boards popped up on the walls across from us, both above the balconies, with the left one labeled 'Training', while the left one was labeled 'Combat'. Almost as soon as they popped up, ESTR reappeared before us.

"Thanks ESTR." Darkrai said. "So, here they are. As you can probably see, the number one spot on both are the same."

Looking at the two boards, I saw a picture of an Arcanine, accompanied by the name 'Chelsea' at the top of both, with the name 'Moltres' to the right of it. On the left board, I saw a time of one minute between both of the names, and on the right I saw a win/loss ratio of 33/1 between the names.

"Wow, she really knows how to clean house." I said, slightly amazed.

"Your damn right I do." A voice said behind us.

We turned to see the same Arcanine, clad in red jeans and a Blood on the Dance Floor shirt, that we were currently discussing in the doorway, along with Moltres, Articuno, and a Weavile-morph, who was wearing a light blue karate gi.

"Hello," Darkrai said, seemingly calmly, but still semi-obviously pissed, "I hadn't realized that you were training in here today."

"Well, we are," Moltres said, rudely, "so I advise you move aside. Oh, and to the male, I advise you pay attention, you may actually learn something."

The fire pair then pushed past us, heading towards the center of the room. Myself, the Weavile, Darkrai, and Articuno moved closer to the wall, even though we weren't really in any danger of getting hit, due to the sheer size of the room.

"ESTR, run the practice, now!" Moltres demanded.

"Yes, Lady Moltres." ESTR said, before snapping her fingers.

At this, a large digital timer appeared between both leader boards, followed by small, circular targets appearing around Chelsea, who now stood in the center of the room. The targets were surrounding Chelsea in a roofless cube, with three stacks of targets, going four across on each row.

"Begin." ESTR said, her voice seeming to resonate from the walls themselves.

At these words, the timer started counting up, and all forty-eight targets started spinning in a circle around Chelsea, at a rather quick pace.

I looked around, trying to find the source of the sound, and ESTR, seeing my confusion, said, "We have a PA system in the walls. I can speak through it and it is heard in here, or I can use it to play music on."

"That's pretty fucking cool." I said.

"Thank you." ESTR said, giggling.

"So, why does Moltres automatically assume that I can't fight?" I asked.

"Well," Articuno said, "you have to remember who she is. It most likely comes from the sexist personality she seems to possess."

I shrugged, before saying, "Well, she is right. I can't fight worth shit."

"Stop saying that." Darkrai said, elbowing me lightly. "You kicked those cop's asses."

"Yes, but that was luck." I said.

Suddenly, a loud buzzer went off, signaling that the training was done. We all looked up at the timer to see a time of one minute and thirty seconds.

"Holy shit, that was fast." I said.

"Damn it," Chelsea yelled, "that's not fast enough!"

"I think it's pretty impressive." I said.

"I don't fucking care about your opinion, male." She said, putting extra emphasis on the final word.

"Hey, I'm just trying to be nice." I said, throwing my hands up defensively.

Chelsea glared at me, before she started walking over to me. When she got over to me, she got in my face.

"I didn't fucking tell you to talk to me, male." She said, before cocking her fist back, and slamming it into my mouth.

As soon as her fist made contact, I felt a sharp pain in my mouth, and blood started pouring from it. The attack was followed by gasps of shock from the Weavile, Darkrai, Articuno, and ESTR.

"Son of a fucking bitch." I said, in pain. "You stupid Arceus damn whore."

"What the fucking hell?" Darkrai yelled, as I held my mouth in my hand.

"Moltres, get over here and control your fucking Champion!" Articuno yelled.

"Why should I?" Moltres yelled back. "Stupid fuck shouldn't have spoken to her."

"What the fuck did you just say?" Darkrai yelled back.

As my mouth began filling up with blood, I spat some out onto the floor, and a tooth came with it, landing in the small puddle beginning to form on the floor.

"You fucking heard me." Moltres yelled back. "You're stupid little fucking pet shouldn't have spoken."

"You little fuck." Darkrai said, through gritted teeth.

She began stalking over to Moltres, picking Chelsea up by her throat as she passed her.

"C'mon," Articuno said, "let's get you to the infirmary."

"What about Darkrai?" I asked, my mouth still filling up with blood.

"Don't worry about her." Articuno said. "Whatever happens happens. Right now, we need to keep you from losing too much blood." She turned to the Weavile, before saying, "Jesse, can you go find Celebi or Shaymin, please?"

The Weavile, Jesse, nodded, saying, "Yes, Lady Articuno."

Before Jesse ran off, I said, "I doubt you'll find Celebi around, she went after Alexis earlier."

Articuno nodded, before saying, "Very well then, Shaymin it is. C'mon Shane, let's go."

We left, the doors shutting behind us, and as soon as they closed, the room we left exploded in yelling. We started down the hall, Articuno rushing me, the shouting echoing behind us, until we reached the door to the infirmary.

"Here, go ahead and sit down." Articuno said, leading me over to the nearest bed. I complied, and she said, "Alright, I'll be back in a second."

She rushed into the bathroom and came out a few seconds later, a bathroom cup of water in one hand and a small trashcan in the other.

"Here," she said, handing me the cup and sitting the can in front of me, "get some of the blood out of your mouth."

I took a drink of the water, before spitting it out into the trashcan, with a fair amount of blood going with it.

My mouth now partially clear, I said, "How is Shaymin meant to help? I thought that she doesn't have the ability to know Heal Pulse.

"Normally, she can't," Articuno said, sitting down on the bed next to me, "but Arceus found some way for her to learn it. Now, wait here; I'm going to go try and stop Darkrai from killing Moltres."

With this, she got up and left the room. She had only been gone a few seconds when one of the other doors on the wall opened, and a Flareon-morph stepped out, holding a stack of towels in one hand and a stack of washcloths in the other. She noticed me sitting on the bed and rushed over to me, sitting what she was holding on a bed that she passed.

"Wait, your Darkrai's Champion, right." the Flareon asked. I nodded, so she said, "What the hell happened to you?"

I spat out some more blood before responding, "I had a little run in with your friendly neighborhood bitch, Chelsea."

"Here, hold on a second." She said, before grabbing one of the washcloths and entering the bathroom. She came out a few seconds later; the rag now wet, and gave it to me, saying, "Here, why don't you get some of the blood off of you?"

"Thanks." I said, accepting the rag and beginning to scrub my face.

As I did, I looked at the Flareon. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, a Pierce the Veil shirt, and a worried expression on her face.

"So, what exactly did you do to piss Chelsea off so much?" She asked.

"Hell if I know." I said, my mouth no longer bleeding. "All I did was compliment her time while she was practicing, and she fucking did this."

She sighed, saying, "That's a new level of bitchy, even for her."

"What, is she a bitch to everyone, or something?" I asked.

"No, normally just me," the Flareon said, "I don't know if you noticed while you were in there or not, but I have the worst score in everything, with my target practice time being five minutes and my win/loss a beautiful ratio of 2 to 25."

"Aww," I said, in mock sadness, "so I'm not as special as I thought."

At this, the Flareon laughed, before saying, "Whatever."

I suddenly heard the sound of muffled vibration.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

"My phone." The Flareon said, pulling her vibrating phone from her pocket. She looked at it, before saying, "Ugh, it's Entei." She answered the phone, saying, "Hello, Lady Entei."

Through the phone, I could hear a voice say, "What is taking you so long? You know that you have training in five minutes."

The Flareon sighed, before saying, "Yes, I know. I'm sorry, but I got caught up with talking to Darkrai's Champion."

"What?" The voice said, outraged. "Don't ever talk to that male again, or I will punish you. Now hurry up and get back here before you miss training. Arceus knows that you desperately need it."

"Yes, Lady Entei." She said. She hung the phone up and set it on the bedside table, before saying, "Well, it looks like I have to go, just as soon as I put those towels in the bathroom and start the dirty ones in the washer."

As she got up, I said, "Don't worry about the laundry, I'll take care of it. You should probably get going."

"Thank you so much." The Flareon said. "The washer is in the room I just came out of, I already have it on the right settings; you just need to empty the hamper into it and add all of the shit, and then start it."

"Got it." I said, as she left.

I got up and grabbed the clean towels and brought them into the bathroom, placing them under the sink. I then took the dirty laundry, which was pretty much just what I had used that morning, and left the bathroom. I went to the other door, grabbing the washcloth that I used as I went. When I entered I saw a washer and dryer sitting next to each other, so I put the towels in and added what was needed, before starting it. I left the room and sat back down on the bed, before noticing something sitting on the table. I looked at it and saw that it was the Flareon's phone. _She must have left it while she was rushing to leave. I should probably return it to her._ As I put it in my pocket, the door opened, and in walked Articuno, followed by Jesse and a white reindeer with a green Mohawk that fell all the way down her back, who was followed by a seething Darkrai.

"Oh, good," the reindeer said, walking over to me, "I see that you've already stopped bleeding. Now, let me just close the wound and you'll be good to go."

"Um, okay." I said.

She walked over to me and grabbed my head in her hands. My head was suddenly surrounded by a green and purple aura, and I could feel the wound in my mouth heal.

"All better." The reindeer said.

"Thanks Shaymin." Articuno said, as the reindeer left.

Almost as soon as she left, Darkrai yelled out, "That stupid fucking cunt!"

"Calm down, Darkrai." Articuno said.

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down." Darkrai yelled, spinning to face the legendary bird. "You shouldn't have stopped me. I was going to kill that stupid bitch, and her little fucking pet."

"Which is exactly why I stopped you." Articuno said, remaining calm. "Think of how angry Arceus would have been if you two had actually gotten into a fight. Now just leave the punishment up to Arceus, I'm sure she will handle it fairly."

At this, Darkrai seemed to calm down some, saying, "Whatever." She turned to me, saying, "So, your mouth better?"

"Well," I said, "I'm now missing a tooth, but other than that, it's doing pretty well."

"Good." Darkrai said, now considerably calmer. "Now c'mon, I've still gotta show you where the bed rooms are."

"Alright." I said, getting up.

We left the room, Darkrai in the lead. I thought about trying to start a conversation a few different times, but decided against it every time I looked at Darkrai and saw the pissed look in her eyes. We eventually came to a hall that was lined with doors, seventeen on one side and eighteen on the other. As we went past the doors, I saw a nameplate on each one. We came up to the farthest back door, which was unmarked.

"Well, here you go." Darkrai said. "This is your room. I already had it completely stocked with multiples of this outfit, and the attached bathroom is completely stocked as well."

"Thanks." I said. Remembering what I needed to do, I asked, "Hey, do you know which room is Entei's Champion?"

"Oh, Shelby?" Darkrai said. "Yeah, other side of the hall, just look for her name."

"Thanks." I said. "So, what did Moltres say that pissed you off so much?"

"I assume you mean besides the sexist bullshit?" Darkrai said, sighing. "She started going off, saying that you've got to be the most useless Champion ever, that I'm a horrible Legendary, and that I won't be able to train you worth shit, and I'll always be known as the worst Legendary ever since my Champion will never be anywhere near as good as hers."

As she turned around, I thought that I saw a few tears starting to form in her eyes. She began walking away, head down.

"Hey." I said, getting her attention. She turned around and looked at me, head still hung low, so I said, "Well, moping about it won't solve anything, so cut it out. What you're going to do is start training me to be best damn Champion ever, led by the best damn Legendary ever."

At this, she seemed to brighten up, and she said, "Right. Meet me in the courtyard at nine tomorrow morning, and we can start your training."

"I'll be there." I said.

Darkrai then turned on her heels and started back down the hall, a small spring in her step. I waited until she disappeared around the corner before I started walking back down the hall, paying attention to the nameplates on the doors. I eventually found Shelby's, so I knocked.

My knock was greeted by the sound of something being hit, followed by an exclamation of, "Shit, that hurt. Who is it?"

"It's Shane." I said.

"One minute." She said. The door opened, revealing Shelby standing there, rubbing her head, and she said, "C'mon in."

She stepped out of the way and I entered her room. The room itself was fairly average, with a bed on the wall to my left, a desk with a computer on it at the foot, a bookshelf to my right, a door next to that, a TV on a stand, and another door on the other side of it. But what caught my attention was the fact that the floor was covered in books, DVD cases, and CD cases.

"Doing some remodeling or something?" I asked, jokingly.

Shelby closed the door behind us, saying, "Yeah, I know that my room is messy as hell. I was looking for my phone. I can't find it and I'm starting to think that one of the other Champions took it."

"Or there's always the option that I have it." I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out her phone.

"Where did you find it?" She asked, as I gave the phone to her. "I've been looking for it for, like, thirty minutes."

"You left it in the infirmary." I said. "And what do you mean thirty minutes? I thought you had training to go to."

"Well, I did, but Entei ended up having to go and help Mew cook, so I got off." She said. "So, I decided to come back and shower, and when I got out I realized that my phone wasn't in my jeans pocket, so I tore my room apart trying to find it."

"So I see." I said, looking around. "You mentioned that you thought that one of the others took it. Do they normally fuck with you like that?"

"Yeah, damn near all of them do." Shelby replied, sitting down on her bed and patting the spot next to her, signaling for me to join her. I complied, and she continued, "As I said, I'm the worst Champion, stat-wise, which automatically slaps a giant target on my back."

"Well, don't worry," I said, "I'm here now, which means my target is about twenty times larger. Granted, it currently seems to be on my mouth, rather than my back, but it's pretty much the same thing."

She laughed, and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right, unfortunately for you."

"Meh, I'll get over it." I said. "And you can always remember, at least we'll always have better taste in music."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Shelby said, laughing. "So, anyways, what's with the outfit?"

"Darkrai said that it's my Champion uniform." I said, shrugging.

"Champion uniform?" She said. "I didn't think that we have one."

I just shrugged, saying, "I don't know. Not like I care, seeing as the only possessions I have are the clothes and my phone."

"Well, don't worry," Shelby said, "personally, I think it looks good on you."

"Thanks." I said. "Y'know, you should probably clean your room up now."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Shelby said, "especially since Entei is my Legendary. She's so fucking strict. Almost every fucking day she comes and checks my room, and if even one thing is out of place, I get punished for it."

"Well, that doesn't sound fun." I said, as Shelby got up and pocketed her phone, before starting to clean the floor. I stood up, saying, "Therefore, I'll help you."

"No," she said, "I couldn't ask you to. You've already done enough for me."

"Okay then, let me rephrase it." I said. "I will help you, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

Shelby sighed, before saying, "You're really weird, you know that, right?"

"Am I weird in a good way, or a bad way?" I asked.

"So far, it seems like a good way." She replied.

* * *

**Yay, slightly abrupt ending. Anyways, I would like to address a few things that people may have some minor issues with. First off, I know that the main character is normally Arceus's Champion, but I prefer Darkrai, because Darkrai is bad ass. Second, I apologize, but I really don't feel like putting what the Legendary Pokemon are wearing, as they're all just wearing normal, everyday clothes that are similar to the color of there body, so if this irks you to a great extent, get over it. Third, the reason I say thirty-five Legendary Pokemon is because fuck Gen. Five and Gen. Six. I can't stand those fucking Legendaries, with the exception of the Tao Trio, who I think are pretty awesome. And don't even get me started on Gen. Six. That has to be the most bullshit, worthless Generation, with the exception of about four or five new Pokemon. Although, I do have to say that Gen. Five is pretty good. **

**Ditching this rant for now, I also want to address a few questions that some people may have. First, I know that most authors who do this story accept OC requests, but I'm not sure if I will. I like the idea, but I just don't really ever do, having only done it once, and one reason is because I hate just fucking throwing in characters. I prefer to give them some reason to exist, other than just because. I don't know, I may do requests at some point, but it's doubtful. Second, mostly as a warning, as I said in chapter one, this isn't a harem story, so don't think of it as one. It is a Harem Gone Wrong story, although if you really just can't read a story without sex happening, don't worry, you won't be left in the dark, as there will be at least one lemon later on.**

**So, that's about it for now. No one dare bring up what I already addressed, or I will hunt you down and force you to listen to every Blood on the Dance Floor song in existence, and trust me, I don't want to do that. Not because it would hurt me, hell no, you'll get headphones, but because no one should be subjected to that rock-wannabe electro band who can't make a fucking song without it involving rape. Hope everyone enjoyed, and I'll see you sometime within the next month.**


	3. I Fear That Your Optimism is Misplaced

**Okay, so I finally have an update for the story. I know that it was an extended wait, but I've spent a majority of that time compiling ideas for this story, as well as working on my other stories. Anyway, we shall begin, but first, I have a review to respond to.**

**Vulpix's Flame: Y'know, I really hate to say it, but I truly don't know. I mean, I know that Latios is a gender specific Pokemon, so that will be a challenge, but at the same time, I truly don't want to exclude him. I actually just sat for a little while, thinking of ways to do it, and I only came up with three options: I could exclude him, as most do, even though I really don't want to. I could do a gender swap, and turn him into a female, which I also don't really want to do. Or I could make him an extremely... effeminate male. Yeah, that's all that I could come up with, to be quite honest, and the one I like best is honestly the third option. I don't really know, I'll honestly either have people leave in a review which one I should do, or just choose the one I like best. **

* * *

**I Fear That Your Optimism Is Misplaced**

I dropped to the grass, falling roughly, as my attack was easily parried by Darkrai. She sighed, exasperated, as I flipped from my stomach to lying on my back, sitting Strife down next to me.

Darkrai bent down, holding her hand out to me to help me up, but I just pushed it away, saying, "Don't bother, I might as well just lay here for a little bit. It's not like I'll actually accomplish anything if I get up."

"Don't say that." She said, sitting down next to me.

"Why the hell not?" I said, sighing. "We've been training for almost seven months, and I still haven't gotten any better. Hell, I haven't done a single thing since I got here. Besides, it's not like I'm even wanted here."

"C'mon, you know that that isn't true." Darkrai said.

"Oh really?" I said, sitting up. "There are seventy of us here, thirty five legends and thirty five Champions, and if you take me out of that and that leaves sixty nine. You like me, Celebi likes me, and Mew likes me, while Articuno, Anna, and Arceus just seem indifferent, and all of the others, being sixty three people, despise me. That means that I'm hated by more than ninety percent of this places population. So, please remind me, how am I not unwanted?"

"Don't worry about the others, their just sexist assholes." She said. "And besides, you and I both know that those aren't the only ones who like you." I looked at her, confused, and she said, "C'mon, did you really think that I wouldn't know about you and Shelby, did you?"

"What?" I asked, shocked. "How did you find out?"

Darkrai giggled, before saying, "I have my ways."

"Please don't let anyone else know," I pleaded, "Especially Entei. She'd kill Shelby, before taking me out as well."

"Relax," she reassured me, "your secret is safe with me. But, speaking of you two, aren't you running a little late for your meeting?"

"What?" I said, worried. I quickly dug my phone from my pocket and, seeing the time, said, "Shit, your right. When I told her the time, I hadn't expected our training to take this long."

"Well, how about this," Darkrai said, "I'll let you leave early, but you have to promise to start trying harder in our sessions. Agreed?"

"Agreed." I said, leaping up and grabbing Strife. "Thank you so much, Darkrai."

I sheathed Strife and started to run out of the clearing that we were training in, when Darkrai said, "Shane, wait." I turned and she put her hands on my shoulders, before saying, "Listen, I know that you aren't exactly very popular here, and it kills me to see you beat yourself up about it, when the others already do that enough."

I sighed, saying, "Did you just start this conversation to depress me and make me hate myself even more, or is there some other reason?"

"Of course there's another reason." She said. "I want you to remember, no matter what they say or do to you, they aren't any better than you."

"It's nice to know that someone here has some belief in me," I replied, "but I fear that your optimism is misplaced."

"No, it isn't." Darkrai said, pulling me into a hug. "I promise you, you'll be one of the best Champions this hall has ever had. Mark my words."

"Whatever." I said, pulling myself from her arms. "Anyway, thanks for letting me go early, but I should probably get going now."

With that, I dashed through the trees. I immediately started for our meeting place. Ever since the first day that I got here, Shelby and I have been friends, but we had chosen to keep it a secret, as we both knew that it would call down more of the others wrath, especially Entei, and neither of us wanted that. As I was running, my mind began to stray to other matters. _I still don't understand why Darkrai chose me, or why she keeps trying to cheer me up. It's not like I don't understand that I'm useless and unwanted, and I'm honestly surprised that I am actually still here, as I would have thought that the others would have come up with some stupid bullshit reason to get me kicked out. _My mind continued to be clouded with these thoughts until I reached the small clearing. As soon as I entered the clearing and saw the familiar Flareon sitting on the grass, a small basket next to her, all of my dark thoughts and worries were immediately expelled from my mind, to be replaced by joy.

"Hey." I greeted Shelby, sitting down across from her. "Sorry for being late. Our training took a little longer than I had anticipated, but Darkrai let me go early."

"It's alright," Shelby said, moving the basket to where it was between us, "I actually just got here, as well. Entei did another fucking room check, and apparently we hadn't cleaned up as well as we thought we had the other night, as she found a chip in the floor."

"Sorry." I said. "Next time we decide to watch movies all night, we can do it my room."

"Thanks." Shelby responded. "While Clint Eastwood is a wonderful actor, his movies aren't worth having to do everyone's laundry for two weeks."

"Seriously?" I asked, slightly surprised. "That's your punishment for one fucking chip?" She nodded, so I said, "Seeing as it's my fault as well, I'll help you."

"No," she said, holding her hands up, "you don't have to help. I mean, you already help me with any other punishments I get."

"I don't care." I said, shrugging. "I mean, that's what friends are for, right?"

"Not normally, no." She said. "Why, did your friends ever help you this much?"

"I, uh," I started awkwardly, "I never really had friends."

"Oh." Shelby said, sounding equally awkward. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I said, shrugging. "I mean, I never really had time for friends, anyway."

"Okay then." She replied, awkwardly. She opened the basket, saying, "Anyway, I'm starving, so let's dig in."

With that, she pulled two sandwiches from the basket, before throwing one to me. We sat there, eating, and talking about our respective training sessions that we had earlier. At one point, we both just got quiet, and I could tell that something was on Shelby's mind.

Just I was open my mouth to question her, she cut me off, saying, "Hey, Shane?"

"Yes?" I replied.

"I was just thinking," she said, "what you said about friends made me realize something."

"Okay." I said, slightly confused. "What?

"Well, we haven't really talked about your life before being a champion." She explained. "I mean, we've had multiple conversations about my life, to the point where you know almost everything about it, but you haven't really ever brought up your own. How come?"

I just shrugged, saying, "There isn't really anything to talk about. I pretty much just existed."

"C'mon," she insisted, "please. I feel like I barely know who you really are."

I sighed. She had a point. Over the time that we've been friends, we had had multiple conversations about her and her life. I had learned that she, along with all other Champions, were technically in their teens, although some of them had been a Champion for quite a while. Shelby was the newest Champion, other than me, having only been here for about two and a half years before I got here. She also confirmed that I was the only Champion here that was technically dead, while all others had been contacted by their legends and are given the offer, which for them would involve leaving their loved ones behind. While most had found the thought of never being able to see their friends and families again a disastrous prospect, but others had seen it as an opportunity to help the world, or just escape a shitty life. When the Champion had left their family, the family was merely told that they had volunteered to help the legends, and it was left at that. I had discovered that Shelby had become a Champion for the former reason. She was fifteen, and in the process of her first year in high school, when she was asked to be a Champion. She accepted the offer, having always had the tendency to try and help others whenever possible. _I guess it truly isn't fair. I know all about her, yet she knows nothing of me. _

"Alright," I said, coming to a decision, "I'll tell you about me, but you must promise to tell no one, as it could get Darkrai into a large amount of trouble."

"Alright." She agreed, obviously confused, but sounding intrigued all the same.

I sighed, before starting the story of my fucked up life. When I was finished, Shelby just sat there, silent.

After a few seconds, she said, "Wait a minute, so you're technically dead?"

"Yes." I said, nodding. "I did, in fact, die from jumping off of Black Watch Tower."

"Holy shit." She said. "Then how are you here?"

I shrugged, before saying, "I don't really know, to be honest. I didn't really feel like questioning it at the time, so I just let it slide."

After a few more seconds, Shelby said, "I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry about?" I questioned.

"I guess that I'm just sorry for how shitty your life was, and how it all came to an end." She replied, shrugging. "And I'm also sorry about asking you to talk about."

"Don't worry." I reassured. "I have no issue with talking about my life. I mean, it sucked horridly anyway, so why would I care about discussing it?"

"I don't really know, I just assumed that it wouldn't exactly be one of your favorite topics." She replied.

I just shrugged, saying, "I've just grown to live with it now, really."

"So," she said, "hypothetically speaking, what exactly would happen to you if you were kicked out of being a Champion?"

"I don't know," I said, shrugging, "I assume that I would be sent to my original destination."

She was about to say something, when my phone went off. I pulled it from my pocket and saw a text from Darkrai, which I read.

"C'mon," I said, pocketing my phone and rising, "Mewtwo's crew is back from their scouting mission, and apparently Arceus is calling a meeting of all of the legends and Champions."

"Alright." Shelby said, closing the basket and rising as well.

She grabbed the basket and we took off for the Hall. When we entered the Hall, Shelby quickly dropped the basket off in her room, while I headed for the meeting room, keeping us apart to make sure that we weren't seen together. I entered the room and was struck by a sickly sweet smell, which seemed to cause a knot to appear in my stomach and making me feel slightly tired. I just blocked it out, not really caring much about questioning it, and found my seat next to Darkrai, making Strife disappear from my back as I walked.

"Any idea what this is all about?" I asked, quietly.

"Nope." She replied. "All I know is that Mewtwo is back, and they have important news."

At this moment, Arceus entered the room, followed closely by her Champion, a Lopunny named Anna, Mewtwo, and her own Champion, an Espeon by the name of Jasmine. As they entered, the room fell quiet, and I looked over to where Entei to see, to my relief, that Shelby was able to make it without being late. Mewtwo and Jasmine took their seats, while Arceus and Anna sat at the center table.

When they were all seated, Arceus cleared her throat, before beginning, "I assume that many of you are curious as to why this emergency meeting has been called. The reason is, that the Organization had stepped up their brutality."

As she spoke, four large projector screens, one pointing to each wall, came from the ceiling, followed by a small hole opening up in each fall, facing a screen. As she continued, the lights dimmed to near off.

"As you all know, for the past few months the Organization has been secretly eliminating anyone whom apposes them, without alerting the public." She began. "We have discovered, thanks to the work of Mewtwo and Jasmine, that they have recently lost all use of discretion and secrecy, having opened up hundreds of concentration camps scattered across their territory, which they use to keep their opponents as prisoners."

At this, pictures began flashing onto the screens, some of large, stone buildings, others of other people, morphs and humans alike, all of them starved and almost completely nude, covered in blood, mud, and bruises. The slideshow continued with pictures of this nature for multiple minutes, before finally ending with a few shots of mass graves, all of which appeared to contain anywhere between hundreds and thousands of dead bodies, all in similar state to the living beings that we were shown. As the screens retracted and the room slowly brightened, I looked around and saw looks of disgust and horror plastered to every face in the room.

"Therefore," Arceus continued, "we have decided that we must hurry and defeat them quickly. We have decided that all training must be sped up and intensified, and any Champions that have proven themselves to be skilled in combat are to go on missions to collect intel or to attempt to liberate some of these camps."

With that, she left the room, with Anna trailing behind her. The room stayed in shocked silence for multiple minutes after they left, until someone cleared their throat.

"Very well." Giratina said, speaking up. "Arceus and I have already discussed new training regiments, so I would like all legends to report to me immediately to receive their Champion's schedule."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the room was filled with the sounds of scraping chair legs, as everyone rose from their seats, eager to begin training. Darkrai and I were the last pair to make it to Giratina, but we were eventually able to approach her.

"What training does Shane have?" Darkrai asked, curtly.

Ever since the ordeal with my first day here, Darkrai had tried to keep interaction with most of the other legends to a minimum, as they have since begun treating her like a child that shouldn't be allowed to make her own decisions, so it was no surprise that she was wanting to get away as soon as possible.

"Ah, yes," Giratina said, scanning the paper that was in her hand, "the male." At this, I saw Darkrai roll her eyes, but she said nothing as Giratina replied, "He is to report to the simulation room every day for practice."

"Is this immediate?" Darkrai asked.

"No," Giratina replied, "it will begin at eight."

"Okay." Darkrai said, nodding, before we both left. When we were in the hallway, she checked her phone, before saying, "It's only about seven right now, so you can have the next hour off."

"Thank you." I said, before leaving to go outside.

I began pacing the courtyard, not able to think of anything else to do. After a few minutes, though, I was distracted by a dismaying sight, and I stood still as I watched Chelsea, Heatran's Champion, a Blaziken named Jenna, and Maggie walk towards me.

When they reached me, I calmly asked, "Yes?"

Instead of answering normally, Chelsea just growled out, "Shut up, male. I thought that I made it damn clear that you are not to speak to me unless I address you."

I merely sighed internally, having to fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"So, male," Chelsea continued, once again using her favorite name for me, "I assume that you got a new training schedule?"

"Yes." I replied, simply.

She scoffed, before saying, "I don't see any reason that you should've been given a session. It's not like you'll ever be an effective Champion, anyway. You'll always just be another useless male that thinks that he can do what is obviously a woman's job."

With this, they all started laughing, and I sigh, before saying, "Whatever."

They stopped laughing, and Chelsea glared at me, saying, "What did you just say?

The question seemed to be extremely redundant, as she delivered a swift punch to my jaw before I could even answer, knocking me on the ground. I brought my hand to my mouth, hoping that I wasn't bleeding.

Chelsea then sent a kick flying directly to my stomach, knocking the air out of me, as she said, "Never use that tone of voice with me again!"

She was about to kick me again, when a voice yelled out, "Chelsea!"

We all turned to see Anna striding towards us, a stern look on her face.

When she reached us, she said, "There better be a damn good reason as to why you just hit Shane, Chelsea."

"Oh, so now you're taking the male's side?" Chelsea said.

"I am taking no sides." Anna responded. "I am merely doing my duties as Arceus's Champion, which includes enforcing the rules, one of which is that there will be no bullying."

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Chelsea replied, sarcastically. "Are we gonna fight, or something?"

Anna glared at Chelsea, before saying, "No, but I will be sure to report your name to Arceus. And don't ever let me see you bullying anyone else again, or there will be hell to pay."

With that, she walked away, leaving a seething Chelsea standing there.

"I can't stand her fucking attitude." She said. "She only acts like that because she's Arceus's Champion. We all know that I could kick her ass in any fight, and I could prove it if she'd fucking accept the challenge."

She then stalked off; Jenna and Maggie following her.

I let my head fall to the ground, before closing my eyes and saying, "Fuck. At least I'm not bleeding again."

"Need help?" A voice asked.

I opened my eyes to see Shelby standing above me, a slightly pitying look on her face.

"I'm good." I said, sighing. As I stood up, I said, "Is it just me, or is she much bitchier than usual?"

"Not that I'm trying to defend her or anything," Shelby said, as I dusted myself off, "but it isn't completely her fault this time."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious.

"Well, um," she began, awkwardly, "around this time is a heat season that affects a majority of the Pokemon in the world."

"Okay." I said, confused. "But your morphs, so how does that affect you?"

"Well, I guess that you're an exception to this rule," Shelby said, "as you had already technically died, but when we all became Champions, to make it to where we don't age, they had to use Pokemon DNA, and they still haven't found out a way to do it perfectly, so some of the normal Pokemon genes still get in there. So, that causes us Champions to be effected by heat."

"I guess that that would explain the smell in the meeting room. And the effect it had on me." I said, remembering the sweet scent in the room, as we walked towards the trees. "So, are the legends affected by heat, as well?"

"No," she said, "for some reason they don't go into heat, the lucky bastards."

"Oh." I said. "Wait a minute, doesn't that also mean that you are in heat, as well?"

"Yes." Shelby said, sighing. "But I know what effects the scent of a female in heat has on males, and I wasn't sure whether or not it would do anything to you, so I decided to hide it, anyway."

"Oh." I said. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." She reassured. "It's just something that happens."

"I know," I said, "but that doesn't mean that I'll be alright, knowing that you're in pain constantly."

Shelby sighed, before saying, "Yeah, it really fucking sucks. Although, I'm slightly worried about you. You mentioned that it had an effect on you, correct?" I nodded, so she continued, "Well, that can't be good, seeing as we both know what the heat scent does to males."

I just shrugged, saying, "I don't really care about that. Whatever happens, I can repress it and keep from acting on my primal instincts, don't worry. The only thing that I'm not really looking forward to is that this apparently means that I'll be getting my ass kicked even more for a few months."

She shrugged, before saying, "Well, it beats the alternative. I mean, they could just spend all of their time wanting to fuck your brains out."

"Yeah, I guess." I said. "I just can't stand knowing that my only friend is in constant pain and I can do nothing about it."

"Well, you technically can do something about it." She said. I looked at her, shocked, and she laughed, before saying, "Calm down, I'm just joking. Don't worry, I would never ask you to do something like. I mean, I could never force you into doing something like that, especially if you didn't want to do it."

"Alright, then." I said.

Shelby then stopped and grabbed me by my shoulders and turned me to face her, taking me by surprise. Due to the close proximity, I could now clearly smell her heat scent, and I had to resist the urge to act upon my instincts.

"But I need you to listen to me." She said. "I should probably prepare you for what effects this will have on us. Since we are in heat, our emotions are heightened, which includes the three most prominent ones that you will see for the next four or five months, being hatred, lust, and love."

"Wait a minute," I interrupted," the heat lasts for four or five months for you guys? It normally only lasts for two or three for Pokemon."

"Yes." Shelby said. "Now, don't interrupt me. Unlike the others, who will have their hatred towards you heightened, I will most likely have my lust and love towards you heightened, merely due to the fact that you and I are friends. You must be prepared for this. In this time, I may make advances on you or, if it gets extremely bad, even try to get what my body wants by force. When this happens, I want you to remember that this is not me doing it, but the heat. Do not succumb to your instincts, okay? No matter what I say, you have to keep me from doing anything that could harm you, or our friendship. Do you understand?"

As she was speaking, I could feel my resolve weakening, and I felt myself slowly drift into a numb state of mind. I was jolted back to reality by a sharp smack on my face.

"See?" Shelby said. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. I could tell that you were drifting off. Please, for both of our sakes, you have to constantly remain alert and block out the scent. Can you promise me this?"

"Of course." I said.

"Let me hear you say it." She demanded.

"I swear that, no matter what you say or what my body says," I began, "I will not give in to my primal urges. I promise that, no matter how much I hate the thought of it, I will not help your heat and I will leave you to suffer."

"Thank you." She said, releasing me with a sigh. "That takes a load off of my mind. I mean, you don't know how difficult it already is to be in this close of proximity to a male and not want to fuck you into unconsciousness."

"Um, your straying into some gray territory there, Shelby." I said, awkwardly.

"Right, sorry." She said, shaking her head. "But this is what you may have to put up with for this time. Anyway, let's get off of the topic. So, what new training do you have?"

"At eight I have my first round with ESTR." I replied.

"Awesome!" Shelby exclaimed. "That means that we get to train together!"

"So now I get to embarrass myself in front of you, as well as Darkrai and anyone else whom is with us." I said, sighing. "Great."

"Stop being so pessimistic." She said, putting an arm around me. "I'm sure that you'll do fine. I mean, there's no way that you could do worse than five minutes."

"I doubt that." I said.

We continued walking through the forest, just talking, until I looked at my phone and saw that it was getting close to eight.

"Hey," I said, pointing this out, "we're cutting it close. We should probably start heading back."

"Alright," Shelby replied, "you lead the way."

We started back to the Hall, and by the time we reached it, it was already time for training to start.

"C'mon, let's hurry." I said.

We took off sprinting down the hallway towards the simulation room. I entered first, followed by Shelby, to try and not raise suspicion. In the room, I saw Darkrai, with Entei standing close by, and, a few feet away, I saw Jirachi and Alexis, with ESTR standing in the center of all of them.

I went over to stand next to Darkrai, who quietly said, "Finally you're here. I assume that you two were out together?"

"Yes." I responded quietly. "And, when we're done with this, you and I need to have a serious conversation. I'm slightly pissed at you."

She looked at me, confused, but chose not to voice her confusion.

"Alright," Jirachi said, as Shelby went to stand with Entei, who shot her an accusing glare, "now that those two are here, who will go first?"

"Why not Alexis?" Darkrai responded. "I mean, you always say that she is one of the best, and that she just needs to hit the course to show it."

"Very well." Jirachi replied. "Alexis, center field."

The Mawhile went to the center of the room, as the rest of us retreated to the edges to watch.

"ESTR, start the practice!" Alexis demanded.

"Yes, Master Alexis." ESTR said, before snapping her fingers. "Begin."

As Alexis began, I turned to Darkrai and asked, "Master?"

"When given an order," Darkrai explained, "ESTR has been told to refer to all Champions as 'Master',"

"Doesn't that seem slightly degrading?" I asked.

Darkrai just shrugged in response, before turning back to watch Alexis. When she finished, the large timer read out two minutes exactly. We all watched the leader board as Alexis's name was moved from the twenties up into number eleven.

"As I said," Jirachi said, "one of the best."

"Very well." Entei said. "So, who's next?"

"How about your Champion?" Jirachi said, motioning towards me. "I mean, he has yet to even do the course."

"Of course." Darkrai said, nodding. She turned to me, saying, "Shane, if you will."

I nodded and stepped out into the center of the room.

"ESTR," I said, "could you please bring up the target practice?"

"Of course, Master Shane." ESTR replied.

_I need to talk to her about the whole 'Master' bullshit. Way too degrading. _After a few seconds, the timer appeared on the wall and the forty eight targets surrounded me. _Well, here goes nothing._

"Begin." ESTR stated.

As soon as I heard these words, I began swinging wildly at the spinning targets. When it was all done, I looked up at the timer to see a time six minutes and four seconds. I let out an exasperated sigh, as the room exploded in laughter from Entei, Jirachi, and Alexis.

I started to walk to the edge of the room, my head down, but I stopped as Entei yelled, "No, go ahead. Take another round, I haven't laughed this much in months."

I looked at Darkrai for an answer, but she just shrugged. Deciding that there was no harm in it, I returned to the center of the room, and had ESTR call up the targets. I started at her go and starting attacking randomly again. When I was down to just a few targets left, I suddenly felt an intense heat on my left leg. Looking down, I saw that Entei had apparently launched a Fire Blast at me without me noticing it. My suspicions were confirmed, as I looked over and saw Jirachi, Alexis, and Entei laughing again, and Shelby staring at me in shock and Darkrai glaring at Entei in rage. I quickly stopped and started trying to smack the fire off of my jeans, trying to keep them from being destroyed. As I did this, I felt my fur and skin starting to burn, and a dull, burning pain began, surrounding my calf. I saw Shelby and Darkrai start for me, but I sent a quick glare to Shelby, telling her to remain where she was. She ignored my silent demand, and rushed over to me anyway. By the time they reached me, I had managed to put out the flames and I was examining the burnt cloth and lack of fur that extended from just above my boot to the bend in my leg.

"Are you alright?" Shelby asked, dropping down to look at my leg.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reassured.

We both looked up as an outraged voice yelled, "Shelby!" We saw that Entei was staring at Shelby, outrage and anger plastered to her face, as she said, "What the hell do you think you are doing with that male?"

"I'm checking to make sure that my friend is okay." Shelby responded, indignantly, as she stood up.

Entei glared at Shelby, before saying, "What did you just say?"

"You heard me, bitch!" Shelby yelled back, taking everyone by shock. "Shane is my friend, and I wanted to make sure that your stupid fucking prank didn't hurt him."

Entei began slowly stalking her way over to us, but Shelby met her halfway.

"I advise that you pay attention to how you address me." Entei said, getting in Shelby's face. "After all, I am your legend."

"I don't care what the fuck you are." Shelby responded. "I'm tired of you being such a stupid fucking sexist cunt, you bitch."

I could tell that Shelby hit a major chord with this, as Entei clinched her fist and brought it back, about to hit Shelby. Without thinking, I used Extreme Speed and dashed in front of Shelby, easily catching Entei's fist in my hand. Everyone looked at me in shock, and I heard a few gasps around the room. As I stood there, Entei's fist in hand, I became aware of the difference in our heights. I wasn't exactly towering over her, but my six foot four height allowed me to be a little more than a head taller than her. And this realization absolutely intimidated her, as I saw a welcome emotion in her eyes. Fear.

"I advise," I growled out, putting pressure on Entei's fist, "that you pay attention to how you treat my friends. Understood?"

She didn't answer, so I put even more pressure on her hand, eliciting a small whimper of pain from the fire dog.

"Are we clear?" I growled out.

"Yes." She said, whimpering again. "Crystal."

"Good." I said, releasing her hand.

As soon as her fist left my hand, she dropped to the ground, holding her hand. Without waiting for anyone to respond, I stalked past Jirachi and Alexis, being sure to glare at them as I passed, and exited the room. I turned and began walking down the hallway blindly, the rest of the Hall quiet. I was only walking for a minute or so, when Shelby and Darkrai caught up to me. Darkrai opened her mouth to speak, but I held my hand up to silence her, and turned into the nearest door, which happened to be the cafeteria. As we entered, I saw Mew coming out of the kitchen, and she stared at us, confused, but I simply waved to her. I leaned up against the wall, before signaling to Darkrai to continue.

"Shane, what the hell was that?" Darkrai asked.

I just shrugged, before saying, "I don't enjoy people threatening my friends. Therefore, I was fixing it."

"What are you guys talking about?" Mew asked, coming over to us.

"Shane here damn near broke Entei's hand." Darkrai explained.

"What?" Mew asked, shocked. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"She found out the we have been hanging out together," Shelby explained, "and she didn't exactly take too kindly to it. So, I stood up for myself, and she was about to hit me, when Shane intervened."

"But I thought that you said that you couldn't fight?" Mew asked. The rest of Shelby's explanation seemed to hit her then, as she said, "Wait a minute, you two are friends?"

"Yes." I said. "We've been friends since I got here, but we chose to keep it a secret, as we knew that Entei would react this way. And, for the record, I can't fight; I just had the element of surprise."

Darkrai sighed, before saying, "Shane, I really don't understand you. I mean, you kick the asses of multiple cops to save me, but when I bring you here, you can't fight worth shit."

"Listen," I said, "I don't understand me either; I just roll with whatever the fuck happens. I don't know why I have these sudden outbursts of heroism and luck, but that's all that they are: luck."

"Whatever." Darkrai said, sighing again.

"Hey," Shelby said, "I think I'm gonna go for a walk. Shane, you wanna join me?"

"Sure." I said. "Go ahead and go on, I'll be out in a second."

She nodded, before leaving the room. Mew just gave me a slightly confused look, before following suit. Darkrai went to leave as well, but I stuck my arm out in front of her, barring her way.

"I believe that I said that we need to talk." I said.

"Alright." She said, turning to me. "What about?"

"Why didn't you warn me?" I asked.

"What do you mean, warn you?" Darkrai asked, confused. "Warn you about what?"

"About the next five months." I hissed out. "About the heat season."

A shocked expression spread across Darkrai's face, and she covered her mouth, saying, "Holy shit, Shane. I am so sorry. I forgot all about it; I'm not used to having a guy around here."

"Yeah, well it would have been nice to know." I said.

"Please don't tell me that someone tried to do anything to you." Darkrai said.

"No, don't worry." I reassured. "Shelby and I had a conversation about it already."

"How are you going to deal with being friends with her during this time?" She asked.

I sighed, saying, "I'm not quite sure. I mean, obviously she's affected by the heat, and, as I am a male, I'm obviously affected by the scent of it. We already had a fairly close call when she was just standing near me, and I couldn't help but smell it when we were in the meeting. We both just decided that we'll have to keep our urges and instincts under control."

"Do you know how having a male around will affect the others?" Darkrai asked.

"I don't know." I said. "I already ran into Chelsea, and it mostly just seemed to make her even more of a bitch, which, as Shelby pointed out, is much better than the alternative."

"Yeah, I guess." Darkrai said. "I'm just worried for your health."

"I know." I said, wrapping her in a hug. "And I thank you for that." I released her from my arms, before saying, "Anyway, good night, I guess."

"Right." She said, nodding. "Good night."

With that, she left the room, and I left shortly afterwards, and headed for the main entrance. When I got there, I saw Shelby sitting on the steps, staring at the sky.

"Ready to go?" I asked, coming up behind her.

"Yep." She said, rising. "Let's go."

* * *

It was later that night. Shelby and I had gotten back into the Hall at about eleven, and we had had a slightly awkward conversation about what happened, followed by an extremely awkward hug in thanks for us standing up for each other, that I could tell was full of awkwardness, as we fought to resist our urges, as my nostrils were filled with her heat scent. After this, i had went back into my room to change clothes, before putting my plan into action. I entered the simulation room, closing the door silently.

"Hey, ESTR." I whispered. "You up?"

"Of course." ESTR's voice said, as she appeared before me. "I never sleep."

"Alright." I said. "Could you please keep it down a little, I'm trying not to wake everyone up with this."

"Very well, Master Shane." She said, quieter this time.

"And stop with the 'Master Shane' bullshit." I said. "Just call me Shane, I can't stand that degrading term."

"Very well M- Shane." She replied. "So, do you mind if I ask what you are doing here this late?"

I sighed, before saying, "I wanted to get some late night training in, if possible. Is that alright?"

"Of course." ESTR said. "Would you like me to pull up the leader board and timer, as well?"

"Sure," I replied, "just put the timer on mute, and please don't use the PA system."

"Of course." She replied, as I stepped into the center of the room.

Within seconds, the targets appeared around me. I sighed, steeling myself for what I was about to do. _I think that it's about time to show them that I can become something._

"Begin." ESTR said, as the targets started moving.

* * *

**Holy shit, fuck the English language. If there is one word pair that annoys the fuck out of me, it is "affect" and "effect". I mean, seriously, do we really need both of them? They mean almost the exact same fucking thing! Oh well, minor rant over. Anyway, I honestly loved writing this chapter, granted I enjoy writing every chapter for this story. I've actually noticed something odd about the story, though. With my other stories, especially NSMNS, I occasionally have issues with getting 3k+ words, but this story just flows so easily, that I have yet to run into any issues with it. Oh well, I have no complaints, and I hope that none of you guys do.**

**But, in regard to the chapter, did anyone actually think that I would omit the whole heat ordeal? I mean, obviously I put my own twist on it, as this is a HGW story, so I sorta had to. And, please, if anyone of you guys actually care, I highly advise leaving a review telling me what to do with Latios. If I don't get one of the choices to get a majority vote by the next update, which I've actually already planned to include Latios, than I will just go with the third option. So, if you have an opinion on it, tell me, please.**

**Anyway, until next time.**


	4. Fun Fact: Bullets Hurt Like Hell

**Okay, so here is another update. So, after looking at the first chapter again, I decided that I hate that fight scene, and I wanted to let everyone know this. I don't know why I'm letting everyone know this, I just am. Anyway, there is more fighting in here, and I hope that you guys find it to be good. Anyway, I have a review to reply to, so I shall do that first.**

**Diamondstor2: Let me start this off by saying, I feel like an idiot. I truly have no idea why I hadn't thought of Latios being a tomboy, but I thank you for suggesting it, as I actually used it. But, onto the rest of your review. I guess that I didn't portray Shelby as I had intended, and I apologize for that. She wasn't intended to be submissive, as submissive people don't normally insult the person that they are submissive to behind their back. She was merely tolerative, and when she went into heat and her emotions rose, along with her hatred for Entei fucking with her only friend constantly, along with Entei trying to physically harm Shane, sort of just sent her over the edge, and she went off. About the whole passage of time thing, that was most likely the only jump that will cover more than just a month or so. Anyway, I thank you for the review, the advice, and the idea for Latios.**

* * *

**Fun Fact: Bullets Hurt Like Hell**

I landed on my feet, perfectly sticking the jumping kick that I had performed, just as the final few spinning targets disappeared. I looked up at the timer, causing Strife to disappear from my back at the same time, to watch mine and Darkrai's names moving from the bottom of the leaderboard to the very top, now showing off an impressive time of fifteen seconds.

"Wow," ESTR said, appearing next to me, "that's even better than last night."

"Yeah," I panted out, surprised by the score myself, "I honestly didn't expect to do this well."

"Well, your skill has been increasing greatly over the past month," she said, "so I guess it isn't completely difficult to believe."

I shrugged, before bending down and grabbing my bottle of water off of the floor. I unscrewed the cap, before draining the whole thing. While the score is absolutely something to be proud of, due to my desire for secrecy, it wasn't like anyone would actually see it. More importantly, this score finally convinced me that I was ready to put my latest plan into action tomorrow night. I grabbed my shirt from the floor, before heading for the door.

"I think that that's enough for tonight, ESTR." I said.

"Of course, Shane." ESTR replied, walking next to me. "Would you like me to follow our standard procedure?"

"Yes, thank you." I responded. I continued walking for the door, but stopped before leaving, and said, "Oh, and ESTR?"

"Yes?" The girl asked me.

"I think we're ready." I said. "I want to start, tommorow."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Not that I doubt you, I just want to make sure that you are ready for what will be needed of you."

"Yes, I can do it." I reassured, nodding. "Just be ready, I'll be here at midnight."

"Very well." ESTR replied, before disappearing.

I left the room, and as I did so, the record time that I had just scored disappeared, followed by my ranking being moved back to the bottom of the leader board. I started back for my room, anxious to finally shower. As I was walking, I pulled out my phone and checked the time. _Fuck, it's already five? I have to be up at seven for training tomorrow. Oh well, I'll get over it, I guess. _I came to my door, and turned the knob, but, just before entering, I took a glance back and my eyes fell on Shelby's door. I don't know why I did this, I just did, and I couldn't explain it to myself. Shaking my head to clear it, I stepped into my room and headed for the bathroom. I stripped down, before turning on the water. After a few seconds, I stepped into the cold water, feeling it wash away the layer of sweat that was coating my body. As I bathed, I stretched into the air, popping my back.

"Holy shit, that felt good." I gasped out.

I looked down at my body and saw the muscle definition that had formed over the past month. Ever since my first run with the simulation, I had returned to the room to train every night, which had not only made me improve drastically, which I kept hidden from the others, much to ESTR's confusion, but it also allowed me to learn new things about ESTR. One such thing was that she could form more than just standard targets, having shown off by forming large buildings, some of which she even completely furnished, along with showing me an interesting advanced training program that she had been working on in secret, where she made actual human forms to fight against, and, after using that program during our secret meetings for the past month, we had concluded that it worked perfectly as it functioned like a real living being, learning your moves if you fought the same way repeatedly through multiple fights; this also allowed us to come to the conclusion that, after the training, I am actually fairly adept at fighting, as I can win fights against four at a time without even being touched. It also allowed me to learn that, by hooking up to her main power source, you could transfer her into any electronic device that you could think of, which would be beneficial to my plan for later. I has also discovered that she could erase things from the leader board, once given the proper command, hence how I was able to keep my awesome scores a secret. I stepped out of the shower, sighing. _Well, I guess tomorrow's the night. I'll finally live up to my job._ I quickly threw on a pair of jeans, not wanting to take the time to get full dressed, before collapsing onto my bed, hoping that I would actually be able to get at least one hour of sleep. I was tired as hell, but I was happy all the same.

* * *

I was jolted from my sleep by a knock on my door. I groaned, before rolling out of my bed. I hit the floor, landing face first, and I let out a quiet gasp of shock and pain. I rose from my position and went to the door, rubbing my nose. I opened the door to find Shelby standing there, bouncing on the balls of her feet. I expected her to speak, but she instead seemed to be distracted, her eyes focused on my chest. I looked at her face, and I could clearly see that her eyes were clouded with lust. _Yep, that figures. Arceus, I fucking hate her heat._

I snapped my fingers in front of her face, saying, "Yo, Shelby. Come back to reality, please."

She shook her head, before staring at me, saying, "Oh, what? Right, sorry."

"Don't be." I said, moving over to my dresser and grabbing a shirt from it. I threw it on, saying, "After all, I should have known better than to do that in the first place." I turned to her, and said, "So what's up?"

"Darkrai wanted me to tell you that she's had to push off training until nine." She said. "Something about a meeting, or some shit."

I breathed a sigh of relief, before saying, "Awesome. So, since we actually have time, do you wanna grab some breakfast?"

"Sure." Shelby said, nodding. "I'll get it, you can just go wait outside."

"Thanks." I responded, before she turned and started down the hall.

I put on my boots and started to lace them up. Ever since Shelby went off on Entei, she sort of abandoned her as a Champion, so, after some convincing on my part, I had gotten Darkrai to accept her as a second Champion, and we had all agreed to tell no one, especially Arceus, as we had no idea how she would react. I left my room, shutting the door behind me, and started for the exit of the Hall. Now that the metaphorical cat was out of the bag, Shelby and I saw no need to hide our friendship, so we had started openly spending time with each other, which included eating together. Although, that was slightly hindered by my existence. I couldn't exactly enter the cafeteria when it was a normal time for a meal, as the other Champions, obviously, made no attempt to cover up there heat, and I simply couldn't handle the sheer density of the scent with multiple Champions in one room. So, after it almost caused a scene, which ended up with me having to lock myself in my room for a day to calm down, Shelby and I had decided to start eating outside, in the fresh air, and she went and got our food from the cafeteria. Unfortunately, some of the others had noticed the effect that the heat scent had on me, so they used this to their advantage to fuck with me even more. Some of the Champions who saw me as less of a piece of filth and more of a pet began wearing tight and skimpy clothes, obviously hoping that I would fuck up and go after them. Meanwhile, the others, such as Chelsea, had decided that it would be much more fun to torture me in a different way, using mine and Shelby's relationship to their benefit, which elicited comments to myself, such as 'disgusting horny beast' and multiple comments about how they would rather suffer through the heat, rather than have sex with a male; along with comments directed at Shelby, such as, 'whore' and 'trash fucker'. And then there were the Eon twins. Latias and Latios. Fuck them. They were by far the worst, as they not only insulted myself and Shelby, but they also discovered a new, advanced, and even sicker way of fucking with us. They used Shelby as their weapon. Since they are legends, they obviously didn't have their own heat scent, so they used Shelby's against us. They used her to try and get me aroused enough to go after her, by doing everything from sneaking up on her while we were alone in the forest and cutting or ripping her shirt off before we could stop them, which made both of us happy that she wore a bra, to stealing all of her clothes, which the only thing that we could see they would gain from that is that they hoped that she would walk around in only her underwear, but, after the first time this happened, we had met with Darkrai and she had agreed to keep some of Shelby's clothes in her room, without letting anyone know, so that had prevented any mishaps.

I yawned loudly as I exited the Hall, but my attention was caught when I heard a voice yell, "Hey, male!"

_Speaking of those assholes._ I turned to my right to see Latias and a woman with short and spiky blue hair walking towards me. Yeah, none of us really understood why, but Latios had some weird thing with constantly wanting to be in human form.

"Yes?" I asked, sighing, as they reached me.

"Oh, nothing." Latios said, smirking. "We were just worried about you. Y'know, you've appeared to be extremely tired the past few days, so we wanted to make sure that you were okay."

_Bullshit._

"Well, as you can see," I replied, "I'm quite fine."

"Oh, did you hear that, Latios?" Latias said. "He's quite fine. I bet I know what that means."

_Son of a bitch. Fuck my choice of words._

"Ah," Latios said, "I assume that that fire whore finally sunk low enough to have you claim her?"

"No," I said, "nothing like that has occurred."

"Oh?" Latios inquired. "I find that hard to believe."

"Yes, and I find it hard to believe that I haven't ripped out your vocal chords and used them to jump rope yet." I growled out.

"Oh, getting feisty are we?" Latias said. "Well, I bet that I know a certain Flareon who benefits from that."

At this, I had to suppress the urge to knock both of them out. _Hell, I could probably do it, should I actually attempt to._

"Listen," I said, sighing, "I'm really not in the mood for this today, so just get out whatever insults you have so I can be on my way."

"Aww, poo." Latias said, pouting. "You take all of the fun out this."

"I guess we'll just come back later then." Latios said, as they started inside. "Bye. Have fun being that whore's sex slave."

As they left, I heard them start laughing loudly. I sighed and closed my eyes as I stood there on the steps, massaging my temples in annoyance.

I was snapped out of my annoyed state by Shelby's voice saying, "Hey, you alright?"

I opened my eyes to see the Flareon standing there holding two plates of food, with a worried look on her face.

"Yeah." I said, sighing. "Sorry, it's just those two assholes."

"Well, c'mon, let's go eat." She said, handing me one of the plates.

I nodded and she led the way into the woods. We ended up walking for at least ten minutes, before we sat down in a clearing.

"Are you sure that you want to eat all the way out here?" I asked.

"Yeah." She said. "Why, do you not like this place?"

"No, it's not that." I reassured. "It's just that, we haven't been this deep since you started your heat, and, um-." I trailed off at the end.

"You're worried about all of the wild Pokemon out here, aren't you?" She said, seeming to read my mind.

"Yeah." I said, nervously.

"Well, don't worry." Shelby said. "I doubt that any males will be around, and besides, I'm pretty sure that once I explained that I wasn't interested, they would lay off."

I just shrugged, saying, "If you so."

"So," She started, as we began eating, "what's been up with you recently?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, already knowing what her response would be.

"Well, recently you've just been extremely tired constantly," she said, "and I'm starting to worry about you."

"Don't worry," I reassured her, "I'm alright. I've just not been sleeping very well recently."

"Are you sure?" Shelby asked. "You don't seem to be concentrating as much, and I'm slightly worried about how that will affect the whole heat thing."

"Trust me, I'm fine." I said. "I don't know, I guess that training's starting to fuck with me some, or something."

"Well, maybe you could request a day off from Darkrai." She suggested. "I mean, if your sleep deprivation starts affecting your skill level, than I imagine that she would absolutely allow you a break to catch up on your sleep."

"No, I wouldn't want to ask that from her." I said. "It'd be way too unfair to take a day off just because I can't keep my shit together."

Shelby sighed, saying, "Whatever. I just worry about you."

"I know," I said, "and I thank you for it, but, I promise, I can handle myself."

"If you say so." She replied, shrugging. Changing the subject, she said, "So, what did the Eons want with you?"

"Oh, the usual." I said, offhandedly. "Mocking me, calling you a whore, calling me your sex slave. Y'know, nothing new."

"Arceus, they piss me off." Shelby said, sounding annoyed.

"Well, look at it this way," I said, "at least you don't have to put up with them going after you constantly. They just use you to go after me."

"Yeah, I guess." She said. "I always feel so bad about that."

"Don't." I said. "I don't care about it. My life was a shitty pit of loneliness, but you've kept my death from being the exact same thing. I'll deal with whatever they throw at me."

"Okay, just as long as you can take it." She replied.

We continued eating and talking, until I got a text from Darkrai saying that training was about to start. We hurriedly went back to the hall and ditched our dishes in the kitchen, before heading to the clearing in the woods that we use for training. When we got there, we saw Darkrai waiting, her signature scythe in her hands.

"Alright," she said, as we entered, "who wants to go first?"

"Do you want me to?" I asked Shelby. "I mean, you did go first yesterday."

"Sure." She replied, before going to the edge of the clearing and sitting down.

"Okay, go to your side." Darkrai said.

I went to one edge of the clearing, while Darkrai went to the other one. I spawned Strife, and held him with the blade going across both of my shoulders, behind my head. Darkrai took her own battle stance, holding her scythe, which she had name Black Rose, in a classic ninja movie katana stance, holding the handle with the blade pointing behind her, just reaching her head.

"Shelby, if you will." Darkrai said.

"Begin." Shelby said.

_Okay, I have to remember; I cannot use my skills. No one can know. _Darkrai took a step back, before dashing towards me. As she reached me, she swung Black Rose forward at me, aimed at my head, but I quickly ducked under the blade, showing off the only thing that they knew that I was good at: dodging. As the blade passed over my head, I pushed out with the side of Strife, knocking her back. She caught herself and came to a sliding stop, halfway across the clearing. It was my turn to switch to the offensive, so I readied Strife and countered her attack by running over and stabbing at her, purposefully making it sloppy and slightly inaccurate. She easily parried the attack and hit me with the handle of her weapon, returning the knock back. She quickly swung her scythe out and hooked it behind my feet. She pulled back roughly on Black Rose, knocking my feet out from under me. My back hit the ground, and I looked up to see Darkrai place the blade of Black Rose at my throat, signaling my defeat. She sighed, removing the weapon, and I got to my feet, picking up Strife as I did.

"Damn it, Shane!" She yelled, extremely exasperated. "What the hell?"

"What?" I asked, defensively.

"It's been seven fucking months, yet I can still beat you as if it was the first day!" She responded. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I don't know." I said, shrugging. "I guess I just haven't been getting better."

"Well why the hell not?" She yelled back. "I've been working my ass off teaching you, yet you still fucking suck!"

Starting to get angry myself, I replied with, "Well, I don't fucking know why, but I just haven't been getting better!"

"Well you should have been!" She yelled. "Are you just not concentrating? Are you just too fucking lazy to do anything now that you don't have to live on the streets?"

"That's not it!" I yelled back, insulted.

"Well then, what is it?" She questioned. "Do you just not care about the thousands of innocents that die every day?" I stood there, too shocked by the statement to reply, so she continued, "Hell, maybe the others are right. Maybe a male doesn't deserve to be a Champion."

I froze, my anger sharply increasing. _What? _I clenched my fists, my right one closing tightly around the handle of Strife, and I had to resist the urge to lash out at her.

"Darkrai," Shelby said, walking over to her and grabbing her arm, "calm down. You don't know what you're saying."

"No, I know exactly what I'm saying." Darkrai replied, knocking Shelby's arm off. "You don't fucking deserve this. I saved you and gave you a chance to do some good, seeing as you wasted your life, but all you've done is throw away everything that I've done for you. Maybe I should have just let you die."

I had had enough of this. I turned on my heel and started out of the clearing.

Shelby dashed in front of me, stopping me with her arms on my chest, and said, "Shane, please stop."

I just glared down at her and pushed her aside, before disappearing through the trees. I made Strife disappear and started walking in a random direction, too pissed to care about where I was going. _I don't care? I've spent the past month staying up until five in the morning or later, sometimes not even sleeping at all, just to train with ESTR for the sole purpose of helping the world. How the hell can that bitch say that I don't care? _I quickly remembered that no one knew about our training, but it did nothing to calm me. I turned and started back for the Hall, still seething.

* * *

I flipped over in my bed, reaching for my phone. I picked it up and saw that it was close to midnight. _I should probably get ready. _I got up from my bed and reached under it, pulling out small wooden chest with two metal latches on the front. I opened it to reveal a completely black hooded jacket.

"Well, let's go." I said, taking it from the box.

I took black sleeve off of my arm, along with the shoulder pad, and set them on my bed, before beginning to put the jacket on, reflecting the events of the day. After I had gotten back to the Hall I had gone straight to my room, too pissed to do anything else. I locked myself in my room and just laid on my bed, dead to the rest of the Hall. Shelby had come by twice, once when they got back from training and another time at dinner, offering me food. I just kept silent, ignoring her and the pained tone in her voice. I didn't like making her feel like that, and I hated myself for ignoring her, I just felt too pissed to actually talk to anyone after what Darkrai said to me. I still couldn't believe how she treated me, but it wasn't even what she said to me that angered me. What she said just cut me deeply, and I could barely suppress the urge to start tearing up when I got into my room earlier. It emotionally and almost physically hurt me to know that Darkrai, my mentor and the one that had had faith in me since before day one, had turned on me, siding with the others. I hated myself for it, and I wanted to just spill everything to her and tell her about all of the training, about all of my hidden progress, but I couldn't. I didn't want anyone to know about what I've done recently, and tonight would only increase that desire. _That is, if I can actually go through with it._

"Arceus, I hope that I can go through with it." I said aloud, sighing.

I zipped the jacket up and threw the hood onto my head, hiding my ears, before tucking my tail down into the back of my pants. I reached into the box and pulled out the last piece of my disguise. My mask. The mask was a jet black, which, post getting it and showing it to ESTR, had been confirmed to be made out of the same material as Strife, obsidian. On the mask was a large red X, which stretched from the corners and went across my nose. The only holes in the material were two holes just large enough for me to use for my eyes, but not enough to allow any of my face to show. I put the mask on, covering my face and completing my uniform.

"Well, here I go." I said, my voice muffled by the mask, which caused it to sound uncharacteristically deeper.

I left my room, shutting the door behind me quietly. I started for the training room. I entered and found it silent, as usual.

"Hey, ESTR," I said, "let's go."

She appeared next to me, a worried look on her face.

"Are you sure, Shane?" She asked.

"Yes," I replied, "why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," she began, hesitantly, "I sorta heard about what happened between you and Darkrai."

"Your point?" I asked.

"Well, I was just worried whether or not you're alright." She said.

"Trust me," I replied, "I'm perfectly fine. Now, can we go?"

Without waiting for an answer, I started for the balcony to my right, where ESTR's mainframe was located.

"Have you tried patching things up yet?" ESTR asked, following me.

"No, not really." I said, climbing the ladder.

"You really should." She advised. "Darkrai cares for you, and I'm sure she wants to continue training with you."

I scoffed, replying, "She cares for me? She fucking insulted me and said that I don't deserve to be a Champion. I don't know what your definition of care is, but that doesn't match mine."

"Shane, she was just angry with you." She said. "She just felt like you don't try as hard as you should."

"Whatever." I said I response.

I went over to the wall and found the right location. I found the small seam in the wall and slid my fingers under it slightly, opening the hidden panel. In it was a few dials and switches, which were used to do things such as shut ESTR, open up the hidden door to the complete mainframe, along with multiple other things, and a small black chord, with a few USB looking ends on it. I took my phone from my pocket and plugged the proper one into it. A window popped up on my phone and, after entering the correct password, it started downloading. After a minute or so, the download was complete, and a much smaller version of ESTR popped up, hovering just above my phone's screen.

"Alright, take up your disguise, E." I said, using her code name.

"Very well." ESTR said, before disappearing.

We had decided to give a code name so that I could speak to her in the field, while she would just refer to me indirectly, without using a name. After a few seconds, a small hologram of a boy popped up on my phone, red, rather than blue.

"Alright, let's go." She nodded, and I closed up the mainframe.

I clipped my phone to my belt and descended the ladder and left the room, knowing where to go. Shortly after I came up with this plan, I started looking around the Hall to try and find something to help me, which I quickly did. Contrary to my prior belief, there was no special power that had to be used by a legend to teleport you somewhere, they merely used a portal in a room in the Hall. Darkrai had neglected to show me the room when I first got here, with reasoning that remained unknown to me. I entered the room, and saw the large, circular portal at the opposite wall. I went over to the multiple cabinets on the wall and opened it, revealing small disks. I grabbed one, careful not to press down on the button, and put it in my back pocket, before going over to the small computer next to the portal. I started typing on the keyboard. ESTR and I had messed around with this multiple times, and I had discovered that, to teleport somewhere, all you had to do was put in the proper coordinates, or just the address for it. We had used this scope out where we were hitting prior to this night, memorizing everything about the place. I had also used it to obtain the items for my disguise. When I finished putting in the coordinates, a blue swirl appeared in the empty portal frame. I stepped in, bracing myself for the spinning sensation. After a few sickening seconds, I felt my feet hit the ground. I opened my eyes to see that I was in a forest, with the full moon shining down on my clearing.

"Fuck, I hope that I get used to that." I said, resisting the urge to throw up.

"You should," ESTR said, her voice slightly different, as she appeared on my shoulder, still a male, "at least, according to the others, you will."

I sat on the ground for a minute to let my stomach calm down. When it did, I got back up and began heading for the camp. We eventually came to a small rise in the land at the end of the trees, and I went up it, crouching down at the top. I looked out at the camp. The main building was large and made of gray stone, with no windows and only a front door. It looked to be at least four stories tall, and, I knew, full of abused and emaciated people. _Alright, there's the prison. _As there were no other buildings, I assumed that all of the guard barracks were in it, as well. Surrounding the perimeter of the building, along with the large yard, was a tall wire fence, with electrified wires braided through the fence, and it was all topped with barbed wire. There was only one entrance, a large gate that was in the fence on my side, with a guard tower on each side, both manned by snipers. The yard was populated with patrols of soldiers, most seeming to be teams of two, and there were spotlights on the roof of the building, each one sweeping over the yard and outside of the fence, manned by a sniper as well. There were random stacks of sandbags and equipment that could serve as cover from gunfire, should things get out of hand.

"Alright, let's go." I whispered.

I slid down the other side of the hill, and, dodging spotlights, silently moved over to another cliff, this one much closer to the fence. I got to the top and faced the camp. I took a running start, before leaping into the air, launching myself over the fence and onto the ground on the other side. _Alright, so far so good ._I quickly moved over to the guard tower nearest to me, avoiding the lights. I climbed the stairs into the tower, and slowly slid open the door, trying to be silent. I saw the sniper standing there, focused on the ground outside of the fence. _Okay, I can do this. _I snuck up behind the person, and stood up. I reached by hands around him, placing one hand over his mouth and the other on his forehead. I quickly gripped his head and sharply moved my arms, resulting in a satisfying cracking sound as his neck snapped. The body fell to the ground, making a quiet thud. I bent down to inspect his body. Deciding that I would need a weapon, I reached over to his sniper. Deciding that a rifle wouldn't be of too much help at this moment, I went to his waist. There, I found two completely black Desert Eagles. _Guy seems to like my color. I think that I'll these. _I unhooked them from his holsters and put them in my pockets. I left the tower, vaulting over the stair's guard rail, and landing on the ground silently. I went over to the other tower and repeated my assassination, before leaving again. I started across the yard, avoiding the spotlights and patrols. I eventually reached the door, and saw it to be unlocked. I began reaching for the knob, but froze as I heard someone yell. _Fuck._ I whipped around to see a patrol, a guy with blonde hair and a Gengar, behind me.

"Hey, you," the Gengar said, pointing his assault rifle at me, "freeze."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, than had I reacted on my instincts, whipping my Desert Eagles from my waist and aiming them at the soldiers. I pulled the triggers, and a loud bang sounded, as the bullets left the chambers, before colliding with the soldiers' chests, punching a large hole in their chest cavities. Their bodies dropped, and all of the spotlights focused on me. I was quickly surrounded by multiple other soldiers, their rifles aimed at me. Without thinking, I launched myself into a flip, spinning in a circle and letting bullets fly. When I landed, I was the last one standing, but an alarm quickly started sounding. I counted off how many bullets I had fired and came to the conclusion that the guns were empty, so I put them back in my pockets. I dashed over to a soldier's body and picked up his weapon. _Let's see. An M16A4 assault rifle, thirty round clip, 5.56x45 millimeter NATO rounds. Semi-automatic and burst action. Let's get fucking started. _

"Thank you." I said, walking back over to the door.

As soon as I kicked the door open to find more soldiers in the small entry room, their guns pointing at me. I dashed back out and took cover in the wall, as gunfire rang out in the room. When the noise stopped, I stepped out and began firing, placing precise bursts in the soldier's chests. As the final body dropped, I stepped over them, enter the narrow walkway that went to the back wall of the building. On all sides of me were prison cells filled with people, most of them at the bars watching me, the others seeming to be too sick, too tired, or, as I noticed in some, too dead to move. Some cells had only one or two people in it, which seemed to fit the small rooms quite well, while some had anywhere between five and ten people packed in them. The people were of all ages, the youngest appeared to be about five, while the oldest looked to be in her seventies. I continued down the hall, until I came to a set of stairs. I ascended these, to find a similar room, which I went down, to find yet another set of stairs. I went up these to find myself in another cell room. _Holy shit, do they really have this many people here? _When I reached the other end of the hall, I, once again, saw a set of stairs. I ascended them to find myself in what appeared to be a set of guard barracks, filled with soldiers, some pointing weapons at me, while others had taken cover behind their beds or chests.

I laughed lightly, and said, "Let's go."

I opened fire on a line of soldiers, and they all dropped. I continued through the room, ending life after life. At the back, I saw a large switch labeled "Cell Release". I went to pull it, but was stopped as a bowie knife stabbed into the wall, inches from my hand. I turned to see a Bisharp standing there, more knives in his hands.

"That was rude." I said.

"Yeah," the Bisharp replied, "well let's see how rude it is when I cut you open."

He dashed at me, waving his knives at me. I delivered a punch to his stomach, stunning him, before knocking him back. He flew through the air, but caught himself, before landing on his feet. He charged at me again, but I sidestepped, and nailed him in the jaw with my fist. He flung himself at me once again, and I grabbed his knives, before ripping them from his hands, and flinging them across the room. I swung his fist at me, but I caught it. I gripped his arm and quickly snapped it, bringing him to his knees. As he fell, I gripped his head and snapped his neck. His body fell to the floor, and I stepped over it. I pulled the switch, and a loud buzzing filled the building. I left the room to see people quickly piling out of the room and down the stairs. I followed, until we reached the yard. The prisoners dashed over to the un-electrified gate and pushed it open, leaving. I looked over and saw a group consisting of an Espeon, a Delphox, a Lopunny, and a Mightyena running over to me.

"Are you the man who saved us?" The Espeon asked, her voice layered with worry.

"Yes." I replied. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yes." The Mightyena responded. "It's our daughters."

"What of them?" I asked.

"The captain still has them." The Espeon said. "He's recently started taking teenage girls back to his own quarters, an underground bunker behind the prison, and they haven't been returning."

"Don't worry," I said, reassuring her, "I'll go and get them."

The Espeon nodded, and I dashed around the building. _Why am I almost positive that I know what I'm going to find? _I found a small hatch at the back of the building, and I opened it, revealing a ladder, leading down. I climbed down it and found myself in a bedroom. Had I had no prior knowledge as to what this place was, I would have assumed it to be a normal master bedroom, as it had a large bed, a dresser, a closet, and a door, which I assumed led to a bathroom. It looked almost normal. Almost. Chained to the wall to my right were an Eevee, a Buneary, a Braixen, and a Poochyena. I quickly ran over to them. I saw, in horror, that all of them were completely nude, with red and white stains in their fur, and all of them but the Eevee had their eyes closed. _The red is obviously blood, and I would prefer not to confirm my suspicions about what the white is. _I knelt down in front of the Eevee and reached for her chains, but she struck out at me with a kick, her foot connecting with my stomach. I looked at her as I regained my breath and saw fear plastered to her face and filling her eyes.

"Hey, calm down." I whispered, moving back to her. "I'm here to free you. I've already freed the others, and your mothers are waiting up top."

"Really?" She asked me, her voice sounding dry. "You're here to help?"

I nodded, and she relaxed. I reached for her chains and, seeing that I would need a key to quietly unlock them, I got up and dashed over to the dresser. I searched through it, hunting for the key. I eventually found it, so I ran back over to the Eevee.

"So," I asked, kneeling back down and beginning to free her, "where's is this captain?"

"I imagine in the bathroom." She replied. "He got drunk, used the others for his own purposes, and then muttered something about needing to piss, and then he stumbled into the bathroom. Granted, that was about two hours ago, so he probably passed out like always."

I finished getting her shackles of, and she leapt up, wrapping her arms around me.

"Thank you, so much." She said, burying me in a hug.

"It's nothing." I said, returning the embrace. Releasing her, I handed her the key and said, "Here, you start freeing the others and waking them up, and I'll go deal with our drunken friend."

She accepted the key and nodded, before going over to the Buneary. I went over to the closed door and, deciding to be done with subtlety, I kicked it open, revealing a Typhlosion, holding a pistol.

"Stay back, damn you!" He demanded. "Get out now, and no one needs to die."

I just laughed, and said, "I've already killed all of your men, and you'll surely follow."

He seemed to go in minor shock, before saying, "You've killed them all?" I nodded, and he flung himself at me, shouting, "You bastard!"

I easily flung him across the room, near the ladder. As he still had the gun, he raised it and aimed, but not at me. I saw that he had the barrel of the weapon aimed at the Eevee, who had already freed the Buneary and Poochyena , who were also awake, and was now moving on to the Braixen. Without thinking, I tackled the Eevee down, just as the gun went off. I felt a sudden pain in my left arm, and looked down to see a hole in my jacket at my upper arm, with blood slowly starting to come out of it. _Shit! _Deciding to end the fight quickly, I dashed over to the Typhlosion, ignoring the pain in my arm, and coated my right hand in an Iron Claw, before sinking it into his throat. Crimson blood started to pour from his neck and onto my hand, as I removed the claw and his body fell to the floor. I got rid of the claw and turned to see the Buneary and Poochyena staring at me in fear, while the Eevee had gotten back up and was currently trying to wake up the Braixen. I dashed over to the unconscious fire type, and knelt down next to her.

"Is she alright?" I asked the Eevee.

"I don't know," she responded, "she won't wake up."

Fearing the worst, I checked her pulse, to find that, thankfully, she was alive, just unconscious.

"She's alive, just knocked out." I said. "Now, c'mon, we need to leave."

I started to left the Braixen up into my arms, but I was stopped by the Eevee putting her hand on my shoulder and saying, "Can you carry her? I mean, you did just get shot."

"Don't worry," I replied, "I can get her. Granted, I may need help getting her up the ladder, but I should be able to get her the rest of the way."

The Eevee nodded, and she followed the other two up the ladder. I held the Braixen I my arms and started for the ladder, ignoring the pain and stress in my left arm. I reached the ladder and, with some help from the Eevee, got the Braixen up, followed by me. When I was at the top, I picked up the Braixen and the Eevee and I started around the building, the other two having already gone to their mothers. When we turned the corner, I saw the Poochyena and Buneary standing with their respective parents, while the Delphox and Espeon were pacing worriedly. As soon as they caught sight of me, the two mothers rushed over to me, the Espeon scooping her daughter into her arms, not caring about her soiled fur, and the Delphox paused in front of me.

"Is she okay?" She asked me, stroking her daughter's head.

"Yes," I replied, "she is merely unconscious."

"Here, I can carry her." The Delphox said, reaching under the Braixen.

I moved my arms away, and the Brixen dropped into her mother's arms, who promptly moved back to the other mothers. At this point, the Espeon and Eevee approached me, smiles on their faces.

"Listen," the Espeon said, "I want to thank you, on behalf of the others and myself. Their just too wrapped up in being back with their daughters to care about anything else, I imagine."

"It's quite alright." I said, nodding slightly. "I understand. I would be this was as well, should I be reunited with a missing family member."

At this point, the Espeon wrapped her arms around me, but pulled away as I winced in pain when she put pressure on my gunshot wound.

"Arceus, you're hurt." She exclaimed, inspecting it. "Please, allow me to help."

"Don't worry about it," I said, "I can fix it myself."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "I mean, I'm a nurse, so I imagine that I could help."

"Trust me," I reassured, "I can take care of it myself."

"Alright." She said. "Anyway, I can't thank you enough, but we truly should be leaving. We really need to find somewhere to hide out, as I can't imagine that our house would be safe anymore."

"I understand." I said, nodding. "Goodbye."

They both waved at me, as everyone left, leaving me standing alone. As soon as they left the gate, I let out a gasp of pain that I had been holding in.

"Are you okay?" ESTR asked me, appearing on my shoulder.

"Yes, I'm fine." I said. "I'll just need to fix it up when we get home."

She nodded and disappeared, and I started for the gate. I exited the camp and went back into the woods, before pulling the small disk from my back pocket. I pressed the button on it, and it expanded. I dropped it on the floor, and it started glowing blue, similar to the portal. I stepped on the disk and felt myself spinning, before my feet touched the ground. I was back in the portal room in the Hall. I picked the return pad up from the floor and went over to the console at the portal. I cleared the coordinates from the screen, and the portal grew blank and silent again. I put the disk back in the cabinet, as it had reverted back to its original size. I started for the infirmary, as I could feel myself getting dizzy from blood loss. As soon as I got there, I found a pair of tweezers, a needle, some thread, and some antibiotics. I used my minute amount of medical skills, along with common sense, and pulled the bullet from my wound, before cleaning it up and putting antibiotic on it, and stitching it back up. When I was done, I felt like I was going to throw up from the pain. I flopped back onto the bed that I was on, letting out a sigh.

"Well, that was successful." I said, removing my mask.

"To an extent, yes." ESTR said, appearing next to me, now in her normal form.

"Fun fact: bullets hurt like hell." I said, laughing slightly.

"I imagine." ESTR replied. "So, what are you going to do with those guns?"

"Shit." I said, facepalming, "I forgot that I had those. I don't know, I guess all I can do without raising suspicion would be to keep them hidden with my gear."

ESTR seemed to stand there, thinking, before saying, "Maybe you could find some way to use Heatran's forge to make it to where they have infinite ammo. I mean, she does use that to make the Champion weapons."

"Do you know how to work it?" I asked.

"To an extent." She replied. "But, I imagine that I could find some way to find out."

"Alright then," I said, "you find out how, and we'll do it."

"I will on one condition." She said. "I want you to patch things up with Darkrai."

I sighed, saying, "ESTR, I can't do that, at least not yet. I'm still angry over how much she insulted me."

"Fine then," she said, "at least stop being so rude to Shelby. You know that she cares for you, but you just continuously blew her off today."

"Alright," I agreed, "I'll do that."

"Okay then." ESTR said. "Now, I advise that you get me back to the training room. After all, it is almost sunrise."

"Seriously?" I asked. She nodded, and I sighed, before getting up and saying, "Alright, let me clean up in here and we can go."

I cleaned the mess that I had made, and found some painkillers while I was at it. I took some, which seemed to help my arm, and decided to pocket the bottle, just in case, and started for the training room.

"So," ESTR said, as we were walking, "how are you going to hide your wound?"

"I guess I can always use my sleeve." I said. "I mean, it does cover my whole arm."

We reached the training room, and I transferred ESTR back to her mainframe.

"Hey, Shane?" She said, as I started for the door.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"You were really heroic today." She replied. "You truly proved that the others are wrong."

"Thanks." I replied, leaving the room.

When I got back to my room, I put my jacket and mask in the wooden crate, followed by the two guns. I took a quick shower, careful not to upset my stitches, and put the crate back under my bed. I looked at my phone and saw that it was almost seven by now. I was about to lay down to try and get some sleep, when I remembered my promise to ESTR. I got dressed and put on the sleeve and shoulder pad, careful not to rub against the wound, and left my room, heading for Shelby's room. I knocked on it, and she came to the door immediately.

"Hey."I awkwardly said, as she opened the door.

"Hey." She said. "Would you like to come in?"

"Thanks." I replied, as she moved aside, allowing me to enter the room. "Listen," I started, as she closed the door, "I'm sorry for how I treated you yesterday. I was just angry with Darkrai, and I didn't want to risk me lashing out at you."

"It's alright." She replied. "I know that you probably weren't in the best state of mind after that."

"Thanks." I said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I was actually scared that you wouldn't accept my apology, or that you would be angry with me."

"Trust me," she said, "nothing would make me be angry with you."

She wrapped me in a hug, and I winced as she put pressure on my stitches.

"What's wrong?" She asked, pulling away.

"Nothing," I replied, "I think I just pulled something yesterday in training."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said. "But, that reminds me. You really need to try and patch things up with Darkrai."

I sighed, and said, "Shelby, you know that I can't do that, at least not yet."

"How did I know that you would say that?" She replied, with a sigh of her own. "Anyway, do you want to go and get some breakfast?"

"Sure." I replied, and we left the room.

* * *

**Okay, so this was fun. Fight scenes, gun fights, and, of course, drama. But, I hope this was a good chapter, and I'll see you guys later.**


	5. I Can't Believe That I Said That

**Okay, so I have another update, with some more fight scenes. Yay! Anyway, before we kick this shit off, I have an announcement to make. **

**So, I imagine that we have all noticed the recent attacks on writers by the self-appointed admin group known as Critics United. I mean, everyone has seen it, right? Well, this has prompted me to open up an account on Archive Of Our Own, just in case something should happen to my stories for some reason, under the same name. I have transferred all of my stories over there, and they will be updated along with the copies on FFnet, as I am still using them, as well. The main reason that I have done this is so that I don't have to live in fear that our friendly neighborhood bullies will go after anything I put up, for any reason, and get it taken down. Granted, I don't imagine that this would happen, but anything is possible.**

* * *

**I Can't Believe That I Said That**

I was standing on a ridge above a road. We were in the middle of the woods, waiting for a convoy to pass by.

"So," ESTR said, appearing on my shoulder, disguised, "why exactly are we here?"

"Because," I replied through my mask, "on the run I did yesterday, while you were under maintenance, I found some intel that an enemy convoy will be passing through. So, we're going to raid it."

"Do you even know what is on it?" She asked me. "Or, for that matter, what we'll do with whatever it is."

"Not at all." I said, as I heard vehicles approaching. "Now, let's go."

I stood up and pulled out my Desert Eagles. They were the same one that I had gotten a week earlier, on my first time out. Using ESTR's help, I had been able to use Heatran's forge to make them to make them perform like a Champion weapon, to where I could have them teleport to me, along with having infinite ammo, which proved to be extremely helpful. I watched as a pair of headlights came around the bend in the road, followed by the hummer they belong to. I saw what I had come to recognize as the Organization's symbol, Earth with a dark shadow looming over it, and horns sprouting from the shadow, painted on the side of it. Behind the hummer were two vans, the symbol on them as well, with the convoy ending with another hummer. I stepped out into the road, head down, blocking the vehicle's path. The convoy stopped, and four soldiers got out of the lead hummer.

"Hey, get the hell out of the road, fucker." A Jolteon said, coming up to me.

I lifted my head, revealing my mask, and he froze in place.

"Oh fuck, it's X." The Jolteon said, frightened, before dashing back to his teammates.

"It's nice to know that my infamy precedes me." I said, as he returned to his allies.

As soon as he reached them, I raised my guns and fired off four shots, each one blasting into the soldiers. As the gunshots ended, I heard four more doors close, before the occupants of the other hummer rushed in front of the convoy. Before they had a chance to react, I ended their lives as well. As their bodies dropped, I walked past the hummer and over to the van. I went to the driver side door and looked in the window, to see a frightened Chimchar looking out at me. I tapped on the glass and motioned for him to get out. He complied, as did his passenger, and they stepped over to me.

"Get in the hummer." I said, pointing at the vehicle.

They complied, and I went to the next van. I knocked on the window, and the driver and passenger got out.

"Hummer. Now." I said.

They went, and I followed them. As they got in the back, I went to the driver window, where the Chimchar was sitting.

"Drive away from here, now." I said. "I won't come after you, just leave and tell no one."

He nodded, and took off. As they drove off, I turned back to the vans and went to them.

"So, why did we do this?" ESTR asked me.

"It hurts them, whatever they need this shit for." I said. "Therefore, no matter what is in these vans, I have, and they don't, which is a good thing."

"Alright then." She replied.

I opened up the first van and saw that it was filled with firearms and ammunition. I dug through it, and found a few grenades. _This will help. _I took a grenade from it, and put it in my pocket. I went back to the other van and saw that it was filled with wooden crates. I managed to get one out, and I sat it on the ground carefully. I coated my hand in an Iron Claw and pried it open. The crate was full of small glass syringe. I took one out and saw a label on it, reading "Pokerus Cure, Strain C. Comes in full cure dosage." _Wait a minute, strain C? This will come in handy. _I put the crate's top back on and knocked the nails back down.

"What are you doing with that?" ESTR asked me.

"I know someone that could use this." I replied. "And, if I remember correctly, he lives fairly close by."

I picked up the crate and started for the large, looming mass of buildings that was Black Mesa. When I had reached a safe distance, I sat the crate down and took the grenade from my pocket and pulled the pin, before throwing back at the first van. I picked the crate back up and continued walking, as an explosion sounded behind me, causing me to be coated in a bright light and some minor heat. I eventually reached the farmland outside of the city. I found the right one, using the names on mailboxes, and I went to the front door. Deciding that knocking on the door at one in the morning wouldn't be too smart, I went around to the side of the house. I used a windowsill to climb up to the second story, before quietly opening the window. I leapt back down and, after struggling slightly, got the crate into the second story, as well. I picked up the crate and started through the hallway. I opened the first door I came to and saw two morphs asleep in a bed, a Gardevoir and a Gallade. I closed the door and went to the next one. I opened it and saw who I was looking for. I stepped into the room and went over to the bed, where a sickly looking Gallade was asleep. He was shaking in his sleep, his face paler than usual. I sat the crate on the ground and opened it up. I found a paper with instructions on how to properly administer the cure, so I followed the directions. I took out a small syringe and took out the small box of needles that were in it. I put the needle in the end of the syringe and tapped the syringe, getting all of the air bubbles out of the liquid. I brought his arm out from under his blanket, and brought the needle to his forearm. I put a minor amount of pressure on the needle, just enough to break the skin. I pushed down on the plunger, releasing the expensive and life saving cure into Ben's bloodstream. I closed the crate and sat it on a desk in the corner, before putting the empty syringe on the box. I looked on the desk to see a pad of paper and a pen. I picked them up and wrote a two word message on the paper: "You're welcome." I sat them down on the crate and left the room, shutting the door behind me. I went back down the hall and left through the window, closing it as I went. I pulled the return pad from my pocket and pushed the button on it, causing it to grow. I stepped onto it and was teleported to the Hall again.

"So," ESTR started, as my feet touched the marble floor, "who was that Gallade?"

"A friend of mine." I said. "He's been sick for a while, so I wanted to help him."

"What did you give them?" She asked me.

"That was the cure to his disease." I said, clearing the portal. "That crate held more than enough to bring him back to full health."

"That's nice of you." She said, as we started down the hall.

"I guess." I said, taking my mask off. "Really, it was just the right thing to do."

We reached the training room and I returned ESTR to her mainframe, before leaving the room. When I reached my own room, I immediately jumped into the shower. As I bathed, I began thinking about all that had transpired over the past week. Ever since my first night, I had been getting better, to the point where I was able to liberate a camp and take out two military outposts just last night. My quick work against the Organization over the week has earned me a fair amount of fame, causing me to be dubbed a hero. Which led to my nickname. X. They have been playing stories about what I've been doing over the news, along with showing security camera footage whenever possible. ESTR had suggested that we start taking out the cameras, but I preferred to keep them up. It seemed to give people hope whenever they saw me on the news, and they adored watching me take out soldiers through the footage. All of the news coverage has led to the people of the world giving me the nickname X, which is obviously traced back to my mask. I wasn't just popular among the normal world though. Almost every day since I started, I've heard others around the Hall talking about me, almost always in awe or amazement. Of course, they didn't know it was me, but it still felt nice getting recognition, to an extent. I felt s sudden dull pain as my hand put pressure on my stitches.

"Fuck." I gasped out, wincing.

The stitches still hurt whenever I put pressure on them, and going out every night wasn't helping the wound heal. ESTR continuously expressed her concern for me the first few nights, but after I just ignored them a few times, she just dropped the topic. But, that allowed her to continue pressing on with her other topic. Me and Darkrai. Both she and Shelby kept trying to get me to patch things up with her, but I still didn't feel like it was time. I wasn't necessarily still mad at her, but I still couldn't get what she said out of my mind. I fully plan to patch things up with her at some point, but I was also worried that she may still be pissed. I didn't expect her to apologize to me for what she said, after living with her for so long I knew that she's too stubborn to do that. I just wanted to make sure that she wouldn't go off on me again. Shelby said that she doesn't seem to miss me, which worries me, but she's persistent about it just being an act, that she really does want me back.

"That may be so, but I still want to wait." I said, to myself.

I turned the water off and got out of the shower. I toweled off and got dressed, before putting everything back into the crate. I replace the crate and stood up, before reaching under my mattress. I pulled out the bottle of painkillers and downed some, easing the pain in my arm. No one knew that I had these, and they never could. It was against the rules to take any sort of drug from the infirmary, and if anyone found out, they'd want to know why I needed them in the first place, and that would prove to be an awkward conversation.

"Awkward is an understatement." I said, once again to myself.

_Why do I keep talking to myself? Fuck it, maybe I'm going crazy. _I laid down on my bed, and was asleep within a few minutes.

* * *

I woke up to knocking on my door. Knowing who it was, I made sure to put a shirt on before opening it.

"Hey." I greeted Shelby.

"Hey." She said. "Ready to go eat?"

"Yep, lead the way." I said.

"So, you seem better this morning." She noticed, as we started down the hallway. "Have you been getting more sleep?"

"Yeah, I have actually." I said. "Not having training gives me more free time."

"I imagine." She replied, and I could tell that she was fighting the urge to bring up Darkrai. "So, what exactly have you been doing with all of your time now?"

I sighed, before saying, "Nothing, really. I mostly just wander around in the woods, bored as fuck."

"Then talk to Darkrai." Shelby insisted. "I promise you, she misses you. She may not show it, but I know that she does."

"No." I said. "I'm sorry, but I'm still not ready to talk to her."

She sighed, and said, "Fine, whatever."

Without noticing, we had both went to the cafeteria, but we found it to be surprisingly empty. The only others in there was Anna, Articuno, and Latios's Champion, an Altaria named Ally, all of whom were sitting at the same table.

Confused, we went over to Articuno and Shelby asked, "Articuno, where is everyone?"

"Off in the meeting room." She replied. "They decided to use the giant screens to watch the news."

"What's so special about the news?" I asked, already anticipating the answer.

"That X guy." She replied. "Apparently, last night he hit another facility and took out a convoy." She sighed, before saying, "I still don't understand what's so interesting about him. I mean, we do the exact same thing."

"Well," I said, offhandedly, "it may be the fact that he does it singlehandedly. That, and he does it faster."

This apparently struck a chord in Ally, because she shot up and got in my face, saying, "So what, are you saying that we aren't as good as him?"

"I'm saying nothing of the sort." I said, calmly. "I'm merely stating facts. The only help he has is E, and he does in fact work faster, as he has taken out multiple camps, along with a convoy and military outposts in a week, while we have only taken out one camp and one outpost."

"What do you mean 'we', male?" She retaliated. "If you'll remember, you haven't even made any progress in training."

"Your point?" I asked. "Now, I would prefer it if you would get out of my face."

She just scoffed at me, before pushing past us and leaving the room.

"Fuck, they all annoy me." I said, sighing.

"Don't let them get to you." Anna spoke up. "Those dumb cunts are too narrow minded to actually bother believing that you aren't trash." We all looked at her, surprised by what she said, and she responded, "What? It's true."

"Well, yes," Shelby said, "but I never would have thought that you would use that kind of language."

"Why wouldn't I?" Anna asked, shrugging.

"Well," I replied, "you're normally so polite and, for lack of a better term, clean mouthed."

"Well, that's only when I'm disciplining the others," she said, "which seems to be every day since you came here. I mean, I'm still human, just like you guys. Just because I'm Arceus's Champion doesn't mean that I'm any better or different."

"The others seem to believe that you think that." I pointed out.

"Yes, well, if you'll recall, I just said that they are extremely narrow minded." She replied. "That, and I normally act that way around them, just to piss them off."

Shelby chuckled, before saying, "So, I take it that you don't like them either?"

"Of course not." Anna said. "Hell, I barely know you two, and I already like you guys better than any of the other Champions, and a majority of the Legends."

"Um, thanks, I guess." I said, awkwardly.

"No problem." She said, rising. "Now, I think that I'm going to go join them with watching the news. Would you guys like to come?"

I looked at Shelby and she shrugged, saying, "It doesn't matter to me. I mean, we can eat whenever, and I'm not too hungry to begin with."

I nodded, and said, "I agree."

Anna nodded, and we all left, saying goodbye to Articuno. We went to the meeting room, to find all of the Champions, along with a fair amount of the Legends, sitting on the floor, looking up at one of the video projections. We decided to just stick by the door, standing.

"Somewhere between last night, October fifteenth, and this morning, this convoy behind me was attacked by the infamous X." The Sylveon new reporter was saying on screen.

Behind her were the blown out remains of the gun van, along with the medicine van, somehow still in one piece, and the hummer behind it.

"The attack was reported by the four survivors, all of which were in the vans, rather than the hummers." She said. _Aww, I was lied to. _She continued, "The mangled metal you see behind me was, in fact, a van hauling weapons and ammo, while the second van was hauling medicine. The convoy was en route to Black Mesa when it was attacked, with the masked assailant making off with a box containing medicine to treat Strain C, the most hostile strain, of the virus Pokerus. While we all know that this will set the Organization back some, I imagine that civilians everywhere are cheering for this 'people's hero'. Back to you in the newsroom."

As the screen switched from the street back to a newsroom, the room exploded in talk around us. From where we were sitting, I could pick up what Chelsea was talking about with Jenna and Maggie, as they were the closest to us.

"Arceus, he's so cool." Chelsea said, adoration laced in her voice.

The others looked at her, shocked, and Maggie said, "Chelsea, how can you say that?"

"What do you mean?" Chelsea responded. "He's so badass. You can't deny that he would be an awesome addition to the Champions."

"Yeah, I guess you are right." Jenna said, shrugging.

Chelsea sighed, before saying, "I'd let him cure my heat any day."

At this, I had to repress a gag, so it just came out as a mixture of a cough and a laugh. This caught the aforementioned girls' attention, as they turned around to face us.

"What are you laughing at, fucker?" Chelsea said.

"I wasn't laughing at anything." I replied.

"What the hell ever." She said, scoffing. "You're just jealous that you'll never be as good as him. You'll always be a useless fuck."

_Oh, the irony is almost painful. _I was about to respond, but at that moment Arceus walked in, with all of the Legends that were absent behind her.

"Everyone, meeting. Now." She said, going over to her seat.

We all followed suit, going to our own seats. I sat down and Darkrai sat down next to me, neither of us acknowledging the other. I could tell that everyone was curious as to what the meeting was about, as there was chatter spread throughout the room, but that was silenced as Arceus cleared her throat.

"So," she began, "I imagine that you all have heard of this new 'X' person, correct?" There was no response, so she continued, "Well, we have been tracking him since his debut and, while his identity remains a mystery, it does appear that his intentions are good. But, this does not mean that we will be taking a break. On the contrary, we will be stepping up our game, sending out more missions, now that we have our ally in the shadows. I will be sending out missions every day now, and I want no Champion wasting any time. If you are not training with you Legend, than I want you either training on your own or out on a mission. Understood?" We all nodded, so she said, "Very well. Now, for today's missions." She turned to Mew and said, "Mew, I want you and Palkia to go out and take out an outpost. Take your Champions with you. I will message you the coordinates after the meeting." Mew nodded, so she faced Darkrai, and said, "Darkrai, you and Moltres are to attack a camp, tonight. Take your Champions." Darkrai nodded, albeit reluctantly, and Arceus said, "Alright, meeting adjourned."

As she said this, everyone got up. Already knowing that Darkrai would want to take Shelby instead of me, I left the room, before going outside. I went into the forest and climbed a tree, and just sat there. _I imagine that Darkrai will want to get some extra training in, so it looks like I'll be alone for the day. _I sat there, listening to the silence of the forest, until I heard footsteps.

"So," I heard Anna's voice say, "how goes training up there?" I just stared down at her, and she said, "I'm just kidding. We already established that I'm not always serious. Now, why don't you come down here and we can talk about you and Darkrai?" I looked at her, shocked, and she said, "Yes, I know about your argument."

I dropped down, and said, "What is there to talk about? She doesn't want me as her Champion."

"C'mon, Shane," She said, "you and I both know that that isn't true."

"Why do all of you keep saying that?" I asked, annoyed. "She blatantly insulted me, saying that I don't deserve this."

"Shane, she kept you from dying," she said, once again taking me by surprise, "if that doesn't show that she cares for you, than I don't know what does."

"Currently, I wish that she hadn't saved me." I said, sighing. "I mean, it's not like I've even done anything important yet."

With that, I started walking away.

"C'mon, don't be so down on yourself." She said. "Just because you haven't done anything yet, doesn't mean you won't."

"If you say so." I said, sighing, as I continued walking away.

* * *

"Alright, there it is." I said through my mask.

It was close to midnight and ESTR and I were out on a mission. I had spent all day training in secret, and by the time it was nightfall, I was worn out, but I still decided to continue with my plan. We had found some intel about this camp when we found out about the convoy. But, this camp was special. It didn't hold normal civilians. No, it held a man named Arden. Arden is one of the former government leaders of the world, as he was the president of Black Mesa, which is the largest country in the world, both literally and economically. He has been hidden ever since they took control, and he has apparently been here the whole time. Due to the high priority target that was here, they had made the building look like a standard camp above ground, but, below ground, it was meant to be an expansive base, full of soldiers. Which, of course, meant that we were going after it. I was about to start my approach from the small hill I was on, when something caught my eye. _No, it can't be. _Looking at the gate, I saw four figures sneaking up to it, who, upon closer inspection, I confirmed to be Darkrai's party. _Damn it._

"Yo, E," I said, "you see what I'm seeing?"

ESTR appeared on my shoulder and said, "Indeed I do. Shall we turn back to the Hall and let them handle it?"

"No," I replied, "this is Shelby's first mission, as is it Darkrai's. We'll stay and provide any needed help, but we'll try and stay hidden."

With that, I slowly slipped into the shadows, following the others closely. I immediately saw a mistake that they were making. They were about to enter the front gate, with two snipers at their post right next to them. _Damn it. _Thinking quickly, I made a decision on how to help. It was stupid as hell, but it was all I had. I coated my right hand in and Iron Claw and, preparing for the inevitable pain, brought it to the fence, and began snapping the thin metal. The pain was almost unbearable, feeling the electricity flow through my claw and into my hand. I fought through it though, until I had made a hole in the fence large enough for me to fit through. I entered the hole and quickly moved to the first sniper post. I went in and eliminated him, before searching for some form of silent weapon. I found the snipers bowie knife sitting near him, so I picked it up. I rose and, taking careful aim at the soldier opposite me, I sent the knife flying through the air, and it collided with the sniper's throat, causing him to drop. _Fuck, that was close. _I looked down to see that they had reached the gate. I saw Moltres grab Chelsea, before silently lifting up off of the ground, and landing on the other side. Darkrai switched into her Pokemon form, before following suit with Shelby. As they landed, Darkrai switched back into her morph form, and they continued. As they moved past me, I saw that Darkrai had Black Rose drawn, while Shelby was holding her dual katanas, Alpha, made of obsidian, and Omega, made of steel. While they had these weapons out, I saw Moltres holding what appeared to be a short sword, while Chelsea was gripping the handle of a halberd tightly. _Chelsea's weapon truly seems to be anti-stealth. Arceus, I hope that it doesn't get them caught. _The group continued across the yard, dodging spotlights and patrols, with me sticking behind closely. They eventually made it to the door, which appeared to be locked. Shelby quickly began picking the lock, while the others kept watch. _I did not know that she could pick locks. _When she finished, the door swung open quietly, and they entered, leaving the door open behind them. I snuck in after them, and saw that we were in a dark empty room, which appeared to be multiple stories tall and completely empty.

"Alright, remember," Darkrai whispered in the silence, "we're here for Arden. We'll take out any one needed to get to him, but we must remain unseen."

They all nodded in response, before heading over to an elevator that was in the opposite wall. The all got in, before heading down. As they left, I quickly dashed over and held the doors open, before sliding through and dropping down onto the roof of the elevator. When we finally came to a stop, I could hear their footsteps leaving the elevator, and I quickly dropped down through the hatch in the roof, and followed them into the hallway. It appeared to be a fairly standard issue modern underground bunker, with the walls and floor made out of a perfectly white and clean tile, with three sliding doors, one in front of us, and one on each side. The room was lit with hospital-esqu lighting, so I kept back from them as they moved through the door to the right. I followed them into a long hallway, which they started down, with me following. They turned down another hall, and I moved up to peer around the corner. They were standing in what appeared to be a cafeteria, empty, other than themselves. Just as they entered, a door on the other side opened and four men walked in. As they walked in, they noticed the group of my allies, and everyone froze, eyes locking. After a few seconds of silence, my group dashed towards the soldiers, taking them out.

"That was too close."Moltres said, as the bodies dropped to the floor.

Just as she spoke, another man entered the room, unbeknownst to them. Seeing his friends on the ground, dead, he raised his gun and aimed it at Shelby. _No!_ At this point, three things happened simultaneously. Darkrai noticed the man and yelled to warn Shelby, the soldier pulled the trigger, and I dashed from my hiding spot. I slid to Shelby and knocked her legs out from under her, catching her with my left arm while pulling one of my pistols from my pocket with the right one. As the bullet flew over our heads, I aimed the barrel of my gun at the soldier and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew from my gun, colliding with his head, right between his eyes. As the bullet punched a hole in his forehead, his body dropped. All eyes locked onto me as I looked down at the Flareon in my arms, to see shock and fear in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She froze for a second, before saying, "Um, yes. I'm alright. Thank you."

I nodded and helped her to her feet. When we were standing, I saw that everyone was looking at me.

"Umm, hello." Darkrai said, awkwardly. I nodded in response, and she said, "So, what exactly are you doing here?"

"Well," I responded, "I imagine the same thing you are here for. Arden."

"Very well then." Darkrai replied. "Perhaps we can work together."

"Indeed." I replied. "Do you have a plan?"

"Just for us to search though until we find him." She answered.

"That isn't advised." I said. "This place is too large for us to search efficiently if we stick together. It'd take hours."

"Well then," Darkrai said, "what do you suggest?"

"We split up." I replied. "You and Moltres are a team and I take your Champions."

"Absolutely not!" Moltres yelled, outraged. "I refuse to leave my Champion with a stranger, a male, no less."

I sighed, before saying, "Moltres, this is for the best. I will take care of Chelsea, but you need to team up with Darkrai. You two have more fighting skill than they do, so you'll be able to handle yourselves." She still seemed reluctant, so I said, "It's either that, or you stay down here for hours on end until you find him."

Moltres sighed, before saying, "Fine. We'll split up."

"Thank you." I said, nodding.

She went over to the door that the soldiers came from and started waiting for Darkrai. Darkrai sighed and started for the door, but I stopped her, my hand on her shoulder.

She turned to me, and I said, "Listen, I know you don't like her, but play nice, just this once."

"How did you know that?" She asked me.

I just shrugged and said, "A hunch. Now, will you play nice?"

"Don't worry," she said, "I won't kill her. I promise."

I nodded and released her, and she went over to Moltres. They left the room, leaving me with Chelsea and Shelby.

"Alright then," I said, "let's go."

We started back down the hall that we came from, Shelby walking silently on my left side, with Chelsea sticking to my right side, looking up at me constantly, a nervous grin on her face.

I looked down at her and saw this, so I said, "Yes?"

"Oh, nothing." She said. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm a big fan of your work."

"Thanks." I replied, simply.

"Seriously though," she continued, "I love all that you've done this week. I mean, you kick so much ass, and you've only been around for a week. That, and you're just so hot."

At this, she seemed to freeze, not realizing what she said, which provided some silence that I was thankful for. We continued walking, but at one point a scent permeated my mask. It smelled slightly familiar, but different. _Arceus damn it!_ As soon as the scent was confirmed, I stopped and grabbed Chelsea by her neck, before pushing her up against a wall.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shelby asked, but I ignored her.

"Really?" I questioned Chelsea. "You didn't think to fucking cover it before your mission?"

"What are you talking about?" She choked out.

I released her throat and backed away as the scent began to overpower me, but I fought against it.

"Your fucking heat, you idiot!" I answered. "How the hell did you not think to get rid of a scent that damn strong."

"I'm sorry." She squeaked out, fear in her voice. Suddenly though, her eyes took on a look I've only ever seen in Shelby's, and she said, "Although, maybe you could help me cure it?"

I sighed in disgust, and said, "I'm not dealing with this. Listen, the others can't have gotten far, go back and find them."

"No." She pleaded. "Please no. I want to stay with you."

I was about to start yelling at her, when another thought popped into my mind. _Fuck it, it'll probably be more effective._

"Listen," I began, reluctantly, "if you go back and go with them, then I'll sign something for you."

_Arceus, I can't believe that I just said that. _But, as much as I hated saying it, Chelsea's face lit up at my words.

"Really?" She asked. "Do you mean it?" I nodded and she pulled me into a hug, saying, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, "just try and find a marker while you're in here."

With that, she dashed back to the cafeteria, leaving Shelby and I alone.

I sighed, before saying, "Wholly shit, that was annoying."

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Shelby said. "So, are you actually going to sign something for her?"

"I don't see why not." I said. "I mean, I am a man of my word."

"That's always good." She said. "So, shall we continue?"

"Let's go." I replied.

As we started walking, Shelby attempted to make small talk, "So, any idea why she loves you so much?"

"Fuck if I know." I said, shrugging. "All I do is kill people. I really don't see what's so appealing about killer."

"Well, it may be the danger," she said, "or possibly the fact that you do all of this solo. I mean, you've done more work in a week than we have in a month."

"Well, I can't really blame you." I said, as we reached the door leading to the elevator. "I mean, you do follow Arceus's orders, so you can only do missions when told to."

"Technically, yes." She replied. "Granted, we could do missions in secret, but that could cause us to get into trouble."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yep," she said, "I mean, who knows what the punishment would be. It could just be having to do the Hall's laundry or dishes for a while, or it could be something much more serious."

"Like what?" I asked, slightly nervous now.

"Well, I guess that the offender could always be kicked out of the Champions." She said, offhandedly. She suddenly got up close to my ear and whispered, "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Shane?"

_Son of a fucking bitch!_ I quickly glanced around to make sure that there weren't any cameras around, before taking my mask off.

"Seriously?" I said, exasperated. "You fucking know? Is my disguise that bad? I mean, I've been doing this for a week and you already found out."

I sunk down to the floor, and Shelby joined me, saying, "Don't worry. Your disguise isn't that bad; trust me, had you not been the one to save me, I still wouldn't know. But, when I looked at you after you caught me, I recognized your eyes. I recognized the worry and care in them, the same worry and care that you always show for me."

At this, I wrapped my arm around her, saying, "Well, that's because I constantly worry and care about you. I mean, you're my best friend, how could I not care."

"Yeah, I know." She said, moving closer to me. "But, I do have a question. Why didn't you tell me?"

I sighed, saying, "I just wanted to keep all of it a secret. Y'know, I just didn't want anyone to know about what I do. So, I'd appreciate it if you could keep it a secret as well."

"Don't worry," she said, hugging me back, "I won't tell anyone. Just, please, don't keep important things like this a secret from me. I mean, we're best friends, and I want to know if there's anything that could hurt you."

"I know," I said, "and I'm sorry for keeping it a secret."

"It's alright." She said, before getting up. "Now then, I believe that we have a guy to find."

"Yep." I said, getting back up and putting my mask back on. "Let's go."

We started back down the hall, until we came to a staircase. We took it and found ourselves in another hall. We continued searching through the facility with very few issues, only having a few encounters with enemy soldiers, whom we quickly dispatched, until we finally found what we were looking for. The prison cells. We took a turn and found ourselves in a short hallway, small cells on both sides. Rather than having the stereotypical bars, they instead looked like solitary confinement cells, with a large metal door and a small rectangle at eye level that could be opened. When we turned the corner, we found two guards, but we took them out before they could notice us. We went to the door that they were standing in front of and I opened the small sliding window, to see a bone thin man, no older than his thirties, his red hair grown down past his stomach, lying on the floor, curled up in a ball.

"Arden, is that you?" I asked.

At this, the man raised his head and looked around, before his eyes fell on me and he said, "That depends. Who's asking?"

"Sir, I know that you don't know who I am," I said, "but I go by X, and I'm here, helping some of the Legends and their Champions break you out."

He stood up and said, "Oh trust me, I know who you are. Not a day has gone by that I haven't heard something about you. The word around the base is that you've been kicking a fair amount of gang ass as of late, correct?"

"That's right, Mr. President." I replied. "And that is why I'm here to break you out."

"Well then," he said, "I imagine that you'll need the keys. Thankfully for you, all of the underground base guards have a pair, so you should be able to get some off of the men that you recently killed."

I nodded and signaled for Shelby to search one of the bodies. After a few seconds, she returned to me with a small key ring, with one key on it. I put the key in the lock on the door and turned it. As I did this, the door swung open, and Arden stepped out, wearing nothing but a baggy pair of jeans, with holes filling them.

"Alright," I said, "Shelby, call the others and tell them that he's with us."

She nodded and pulled out her phone. As she contacted the others, we all started back the way we came, with me having to support Arden some, his arm thrown over my shoulder.

"So, who exactly are your friends that you called?" Arden asked.

"Moltres and her Champion," Shelby replied, "and Darkrai. They said that they will meet us back at the elevator."

He nodded and we continued down the hall until we reached another cafeteria, this one about as large as the one in the Hall.

"Can we take a break here?" Arden asked, as we entered the room. "I'm a little tired."

"Of course." I said, letting him sit down at one of the tables.

Almost as soon as I did this, I heard voices coming from the other door, followed by about ten guards walking in. As they entered and noticed us, we all just froze, staring at each other. I was the first to act, pulling Arden up from the chair and flipping the thick metal table over for cover, dragging Shelby down with us. As soon as I did this, the room exploded in gunfire, all ten soldiers firing, most of them missing the table. As they paused to reload, I popped up to see that they took my lead and flipped over tables as well.

"Well, this got interesting." Shelby said, as I dropped back down and they opened fire again.

"Yep." I replied, drawing my guns. "E, how about some fight music?"

She obliged, as _Kill Everyone _by Hollywood Undead started playing from my phone.

"Nice." I complimented.

I popped up again, Desert Eagles in hand, and launched off two rounds, each hitting a soldier in the chest. I dropped back down as more bullets whizzed past us. I heard a door open, and I peeked over to see more soldiers joining the fray.

"Shit." I said. Coming up with an idea, I said, "Shelby, would you prefer to keep in cover and shoot, or run out and melee kill?"

"I guess shoot." She replied. "Why?"

I handed her my guns and said, "Give me Alpha and Omega."

She complied, and I gripped the katanas in my hand.

"On three." I said. She nodded, and I yelled, "Three!"

As soon I said this, I leapt over the table and rushed through the oncoming bullets, somehow managing to dodge them all. I heard gunshots sound behind me, signaling that Shelby had started giving me covering fire. I continued running until I vaulted over one of the enemies tables, shoving the blade of Alpha into one of the soldier's eyes as I did. I landed and pulled Alpha from the soldier, just before slashing out with Omega, cutting a soldier clean in half. Having cleared that 'nest', I dashed over to another one, where I was confronted by a Scyther, his blades at the ready. He lunged at me, but I parried him easily, before swinging out with Alpha. The blade connected with his left arm, just below the elbow, and I hacked the limb in half. He froze and stared at the bloody stump in shock, before lunging at me again, rage filling his eyes. I dodged the attack and stabbed out with Alpha again, this time sinking the blade into his stomach. I used my boot to scrape his body off of the weapon, before flinging myself at another group of soldiers, who's neck quickly met the blades of Alpha and Omega, followed by their heads becoming acquainted with the floor. As more bullets came flying at me, a team of a Gallade and a Bisharp came flying at me, trying to stab me. I quickly did a back flip over the duo, landing behind them. They barely had time to register what happened, before I chopped them both in half horizontally. I heard a deep growl and looked up to see an Aggron, not a morph, but a full blown fucking Aggron, glaring down at me, looking extremely pissed off. It charged at me and, before I had time to react, I found myself pinned to a wall, its horns on either side of me. Quickly thinking, I used my Psychic power to bring the dropped swords over to me. I caught them and tried to stab into its head, to no avail. Reevaluating my plan, I dug both of the blades into the Pokemon's eyes, causing it to let out a howl of pain, dropping me. It began running around wildly, blood pouring from its blinded eyes, Alpha and Omega still sticking out of them. I dashed over to him and leapt up onto his back, reaching for the weapons. I gripped the handles in my hands and began twisting them around, until the Pokemon finally collapsed onto the ground, dead. As the song ended, I picked myself up off of the floor and pulled the swords from the Aggron's eyes. I looked around to see sixteen dead bodies, not including the Aggron, five of them dead by the blades, two dead by my gun usage, and the rest done by Shelby. I stood there, panting, as the door opened again. I looked over to the door to see Darkrai, Moltres, and Chelsea step in, looks of shock on their faces. Looking around, I could see why. The room was in pieces, with bullet holes in the walls and tables, some of which were flipped over. There were bodies everywhere, and I was covered in blood, to the point where it was dripping from my clothes, as were Alpha and Omega. I looked back at our cover to see Shelby pop up, with Arden leaning on the table next to her.

"Holy shit!" Darkrai said, surprise laced in her voice. "X, did you do all of this?"

"Not entirely." I responded, still panting. "I'm responsible for the Aggron, two gun kills, and the blade kills. Shelby can take credit for the rest."

"Really?" Darkrai said, looking at Shelby, shocked. "You killed that many people on your first mission?"

"Um, yeah." She answered, nervously. "Is that bad?"

"Hell no, it's not bad." Darkrai said, rushing over and gripping Shelby in an embrace. "Especially with the skill that you used."

"Hey," I said, "I hate to break up the morbidly touching moment, but we've got a president to get out of here."

Darkrai looked at me, before looking at Arden, and said, "Right. Let's continue."

"Excuse me, miss," Arden said, "but I can't exactly walk well right now."

Darkrai nodded, before offering her shoulder to him. He accepted, throwing his arm over her shoulder, and they left the room, followed by Moltres.

Shelby came up to me, handing me my pistols, and said, "Here's your guns back."

I handed her Alpha and Omega back, before saying, "And you your swords."

We were about to leave, when I remembered my promise.

"Hey, Chelsea," I said, "did you ever find a marker?"

"Oh, yeah." She said, digging around in her pockets.

She pulled out a black marker and threw it at me. I caught it, and the others looked at me, curious as to what I was going to do. I bent down to the Aggron and gripped one of its horns in my hand. After pulling roughly and using a Shadow Ball, I finally snapped the horn in two, giving me a piece that was roughly five inches. I found a spot on the horn that wasn't covered in blood, and I used the marker to put a large, stylish X on it.

I threw it to Chelsea, saying, "Here."

She caught the horn and looked down at it in awe. Shelby and I walked past her, as she followed, still speechless.

We went outside, where Moltres, Darkrai, and Arden were waiting. I looked to the sky to see that the sun was just rising.

"So," I said, "where exactly is he being moved to?"

"A safe house." Darkrai replied. She turned to Shelby and Chelsea, saying, "Girls, you two go ahead and go home. Moltres and I will take it from here."

They both nodded, before taking a return pad from their pockets. The dropped them and stepped on them, leaving. When they were gone, Darkrai turned to me.

"Well, I suppose that I should say thank you." She said. "Honestly, we probably couldn't have done it without you, and if we had, we'd still be down there, trying to find him."

"Don't worry about it." I said. "I'm just glad that I could help."

"Well, thanks anyway." She said. "Goodbye."

I nodded and left the camp. When I was out of eyesight of the camp, I pulled my own return pad out. I pressed the button and stepped on it, returning to the Hall. As I arrived, I saw Shelby standing there, holding a back pack and a set of my Champion clothes.

"Here," she said, giving them to me, "I imagine that it'd be awkward, should someone wake up early and leave their room to find a blood covered X roaming the Hall."

"Thanks." I said, accepting the clothes.

She turned around, and I quickly changed clothes. When I was done, Shelby handed me the bag, allowing me to put my gear in it. I did so, and we left the room, with my boots, thankfully, blood free. We silently agreed to go into my room, and we sat on my bed, the bag at our feet.

"So," she started, "you're X."

"Yep." I replied, awkwardly.

"Must be exciting." She said.

"I guess." I replied. Sighing, I said, "Listen, I'm sorry for not telling you."

At this, Shelby wrapped me in a hug, saying, "You should be. You know that I care about you, and you didn't tell me about you doing something that could have gotten you killed."

"Hey, don't worry." I said, rubbing the back of her head. "I would never let myself die out in the field."

She looked at me, her eyes locked with mine, and said, "Will you promise me that?"

"Of course." I said, hugging her back.

I looked down at her, and our eyes locked. As we looked at each other, our faces slowly moved closer, until we were only a few centimeters away. As soon as we were close, we both pressed our lips together, and our eyes closed. We stayed this way, kissing, for multiple minutes, until we had to break apart for air. When we opened our eyes, I saw not blind lust in her eyes, like I normally do when we are close, but a deep, caring passion, mixed with an intense love.

"Wow." We both said, simultaneously.

* * *

**Aww, what a nice ending. I loved this chapter. I mean, the fight scenes, the nice little ending. I liked it, and I hope you did, as well. Anyway, I'm thinking of just putting up another chapter for all of my other stories soon, and then taking a break from writing, as I have been on a binge lately. Goodbye, until next time.**


	6. I Depend On You, Too

**Scripted Head Note**

**Damn, has it really been a month since I updated? *Sigh* That is way too long, for one of my stories. But, I have a valid reason. I have had to work on eight chapters this time, rather than the usual four. The reason for this being that I am going to start two new stories, one of which I've already decided on, and shall include more info for it in the scripted foot note. The other one is where you guys come in. Now, obviously, you're guy's opinions mean everything to me, as you guys are the readers, so I am coming to you for this. If you go on my profile right now, you will see a poll to decide which story I will start next, and I want all of you guys to vote. There are four different stories, and I already have the first chapter created for all four of them, so that as soon as one of them hits the required target (either first to twenty or highest in a month, whichever comes first) I can put the first chapter of it up. So, please go and vote, and I want you to keep something in mind. If what you voted for doesn't win, fret not, as all of the stories will be done at some point, this just decides which one will be done first. Now, onto the real head note.**

* * *

**So, now we can return with the wonderful adventures of everyone's favorite low self esteemed Umbreon as he is surrounded by misanthropic females. Woo!**

* * *

**I Depend on You Too**

I stepped out of the portal, sighing deeply. _Arceus, tonight sucked. _I turned off the portal, my right hand in an immense amount of pain. I gritted my teeth against the pain that shot through me every time that my little finger tapped the keyboard. I winced, gasping through my teeth, as my hand accidently struck the keyboard roughly. As the portal deactivated, ESTR appeared on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice filled with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reassured her. "It's just my hand. I must have injured it in that fight."

"Maybe you should have Celebi look at it?" ESTR suggested.

"No, I'll be fine." I said, as I replaced the return pad. As I left the room, I said, "And, besides, the gunshot hurt more than this, but I still did nothing. I'll just steal some more painkillers and fight through it."

"Well, how did the bullet wound work out for you?" She pointed out.

I sighed, knowing that she was right. The wound still hadn't healed, and I had torn the stitches out multiple times. It had happened at least three times in the past two weeks alone. Granted, those two weeks have been spent with Shelby knowing my secret, and she was much more skilled in the medical field then me, so she's been helping me with the wound. I sighed, as I entered the training room. _Fuck, I'm so fucking lucky to be dating her. She's so fucking amazing._ I climbed up the ladder to the seats, and returned ESTR.

"Goodnight, Shane." She said, as I retreated to the door.

"Yeah, night." I said, as I left.

As I went down the hall, I took off my mask. _Damn, Shelby's probably been worrying about me. I told her that I would be home hours ago. _I sighed. _I hope she isn't mad. _We had been dating ever since we kissed, although we have been keeping it a secret. Apparently, hundreds of years ago, back when the first Champions were recruited, there were males, as well as females, as Champions. Back then, there was a rule, a rule against any romantic relationships between Champions. So, to be safe, we decided to keep our relationship a secret, as we weren't sure if that rule would still exist. So, the only times that we were able to act like we were dating was in privacy. Yeah, it sucked.

"Granted, it would most likely just provoke more insults, so I don't have too many issues with it." I quietly commented. "Although, I would happily deal with any insults thrown at us just to be able to hug her in public."

I came to my room and entered, closing the door behind me. The room was dark, but I could still see the shape of the Flareon that I love, curled up on my bed. I flipped the lights on and went over to my bed and sat down, trying not to wake her up. I failed, though, indicated by an orange and cream colored head popping up, blinking sleepily.

Shelby's eyes fell on me, and she said, "Hey, you're back."

"Yeah." I replied, as she sat up.

She slid over to me and wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder, as she said, "You're late. I got worried about you."

"I'm sorry." I said, wrapping my arm around her.

"It's alright." She said, nuzzling her head into my shoulder. "I just hate it when you're late. I never know if you're actually going to come home."

"Don't worry." I said, as I brought my right hand up to her head and began slowly stroking her head. "I told you, no matter what, I'll always come back to you. No amount of shitty mercenaries could keep me from you."

"I know." She said, putting her hand on mine. I winced in pain, and she quickly pulled her hand away, and said, "Sorry."

"It's fine." I said, moving my hand to my lap. "You didn't know."

"Did you hurt your hand tonight?" She asked me, sitting up and carefully taking my hand into hers.

"Yeah." I said, as she started inspecting my hand. "Don't worry though, you know that it's not the first time that I've been hurt."

She moved to my little finger and pressed lightly on it, causing me to wince in pain, and gasp through my teeth.

"Sorry." She said, easing up on my hand. She pressed lightly on my finger again, and said, "Does your whole finger hurt?"

"Yeah." I said, as she continued inspecting my finger. She continued putting pressure on different parts of my finger, causing pain to shoot through me with every she did so, and I said, "I'm sure it's nothing."

"No, Shane, it isn't nothing." She said, releasing my hand. "I think that you may have broken it."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "How could it be broken?"

"Well, did you do anything that could have harmed your hand?" She asked me.

I thought about it, before groaning, as I realized what I did.

"Damn it." I said. "I'm a fucking idiot."

Shelby sighed, before saying, "What did you do?"

"I sort of got into a fist fight with a Machamp." I said, quietly.

"What?" She asked me. "What the hell made you think that that was a good idea?"

"Nothing, really." I replied. "But it was either get into a fist fight with him, or allow him to kill a Bayleef."

"Why didn't you just use your guns?" Shelby asked me.

"He was holding her as a bullet shield, and I didn't trust my aim." I said. "So, I rushed him and knocked him back. I guess that that punch is probably what broke my finger."

She sighed, before saying, "Shane, I love you, but you truly are stupid sometimes."

"I know." I said, pulling her into a one armed hug. "And I'm sorry for it."

"Don't be." She said, planting a kiss on my cheek. "It's one of the many things that make me love you."

I laughed, and pulled her tighter to me. She rested her head on my shoulder again, nuzzling into my neck.

"Y'know, you should probably get Celebi to look at that finger." Shelby pointed out.

I sighed, and said, "As I told ESTR, I'll be fine."

"No, you won't." She said. "You broke your fucking finger. This is serious."

"I'll be fine." I insisted. "And, besides, what the hell would I say? 'Hey, Celebi, could you help me? Yeah, I know that I was perfectly fine when we were talking after dinner, but I sort of broke my finger over night. Do you think that you could help?'" I scoffed lightly, before saying, "Yeah, that'll go over well."

"Well, then what will you do about it?" She asked me.

I sighed, and said, "I don't know. Just wait it out, I guess."

"That's a shitty idea." Shelby pointed out.

"Yeah, I know." I replied. I gently nudged her, and said, "Now, if you would kindly let me go, I can go take a quick shower, and we can get some sleep."

"Alright." She said, getting off of my shoulder.

I let go of her, and stood up. I began to take off my hoodie, but stopped and winced in pain as I hit my finger.

"Are you okay?" Shelby asked me, jumping up.

"Yeah, I just hit my finger." I replied.

"Here, let me help you." She said.

Before I could protest, she was already taking my hoodie off of my body. She nudged my arm, signaling for me to raise my arms. I complied, and she lifted the jacket up above my head, before taking it off, being careful not to hit my hand. When it was off of my body, she sat it on the bed. She reached for my shirt, but I stopped her, my uninjured hand on her wrist.

She looked up at me, confused, and I said, "Are you sure that you want to do that?"

"Of course." She said, nodding at me. I was still skeptical, but she said, "Trust me, nothing will happen. And, besides, you've slept with me shirtless multiple times."

Deciding to trust her, I released her hand. She gripped my shirt and pulled it off of me, before tossing it to the floor. She reached for my belt, but I once again stopped her.

She looked at me again, and I said, "I'm sorry, but this is where we draw the line. I don't really want to risk it."

She sighed, defeated, and said, "Yeah, you're probably right." I got some more clothes and went into the bathroom, with Shelby saying after me, "But, if you need any help, just tell me."

"Okay." I said, closing the door.

I dropped my clothes on the counter and finished stripping, wincing every time that I hit my finger, and got into the shower. I bathed rather quickly, and got dressed in a few seconds. I stepped out of the bathroom to see that Shelby was lying on the bed, already asleep again. I turned off the lights and got onto the bed behind Shelby, trying not to wake her. I wrapped my arm around her, and she moved closer to me, her head resting against my chest. With that, we fell asleep.

* * *

I appeared to be the first to wake up, and I did so with me hand still around Shelby. I moved myself slightly, but it appeared to be enough to wake up Shelby, as she lifted her head, before looking around.

"Sorry about that." I said, kissing her on the cheek. "I hadn't meant to wake you up."

"It's perfectly fine." Shelby said, spinning around to look at me. "It's not like I didn't get more sleep than you already. And, besides, I've been awake for about an hour, anyway."

I chuckled lightly, and said, "Well then, now that I'm awake, would you like to go and get some breakfast?"

"Sure." She replied, before kissing me.

We got up, being careful not to hit my hand, and Shelby left my room, like we always do. I got a shirt out and put it on, before leaving, as well. By the time that I got to the cafeteria, Shelby was just leaving.

As we passed, she whispered into my ear, "Same place?"

"Of course." I replied.

I entered the cafeteria to find that it was fairly empty, although still had a fair amount of people in it. I got my breakfast, consisting of nothing more than some bacon and an orange, and left the room. I went to the main entrance and left the Hall, shockingly not coming across anyone on the way. I entered the forest, making my way to our cabin. We had found it a few days ago, when Shelby actually had free time. We had been wandering around the woods, when we found a small cabin. It had only one room, but the room had a fireplace in it, as well as a couch and a coffee table, both of which were covered in dust. We cleaned the place up some, and now we used it as our own get away place. As I made my way through the forest, the seemingly endless snowfall that had started a few days ago being kept away from me by the trees, I could hear the sounds of the Pokemon of the forest roaming around, most of them probably finding food to store for the winter. After a few minutes, I could see the wood cabin through the trees. I sped up slightly, eager to not only be out of the slight cold, but also to be with Shelby again. I entered the cabin to see Shelby sitting on the couch, and a small fire, not large enough to produce a lot of smoke, but large enough to provide some heat and light, already in the fireplace.

"Hey." She greeted, as I closed the door.

"Hello." I returned, sitting on the couch next to her.

We began eating, not talking, just enjoying each other's company. After multiple minutes, though, Shelby cleared her throat, breaking the silence.

"So, I was thinking." She started.

"Okay." I said, swallowing a slice of orange. "About what?"

"About what you do." She replied. Knowing what she was meaning, I nodded, and she continued, "Well, recently you've been getting into a lot of close calls, and I've been worrying about you."

"Okay." I said, interested.

"And, well, as much I know that you won't like it, but I want you to take a vacation from it." She said, the last part coming out quickly, as if she was scared of my reaction.

"What?" I asked, shocked. "A vacation?"

"Yes." She replied. "I think that you should take a small break from being X."

I sighed, before saying, "Shelby, you know that I can't do that. I mean, people depend on me."

"I know that. But, remember, I depend on you, too." She said. "And, I mean, recently you've almost been hurt multiple times, and then last night you came home with a broken finger. And, honestly, most nights I'm not even sure if you'll come home at all."

As she finished, her voice began wavering. I looked down at her head on my shoulder, and saw that she was looking up at me, tears beginning to form in her eyes. I sighed, knowing my answer immediately.

"Alright." I said. "Since you care for me so much, I'll take a break for a little bit."

"Thanks." She said, bringing me into a tight hug. As she pulled away, she wiped her tears on the sleeve of her jacket, before saying, "Y'know, I honestly wasn't sure if you would go with it."

I pulled her closer to me, and said, "Of course I'm going with it. I can't stand to see you so sad."

"I know." She said, hugging me again. "And that's another reason that I love you."

I just laughed, wrapping my arm around her.

"So," Shelby said, "since we're both done, do you want to go and wander around?"

"Sure." I replied.

We got up and, after pouring some of a bottle of water that we kept in the cabin onto the fire, we left. After a while, Shelby reached into her pocket, bringing out her vibrating phone.

She looked at it and sighed, saying, "It's Darkrai. She says that I have training in five minutes."

I groaned, and said, "Seriously? That fucking sucks."

"Yeah." Shelby said, sadly. She suddenly perked up, saying, "Hey, maybe you could come and watch."

"I don't know." I said. "I mean, I doubt that Darkrai would enjoy me being there."

"So?" She said. "Please come."

I sighed, and said, "Fine."

"Awesome." She said. "Now, c'mon, let's go."

We started through the forest, heading back to the Hall, almost running, so that Shelby got there on time. We made it back to the Hall in just enough time, and we quickly continued to the training room. When we got there, we saw that Darkrai was already waiting in there, with Mew, who was currently in her preferred form, being her small floating cat-like form, rather than her morph form, and her Champion Ellie, and Espeon that, as of late, has actually seemed to not hate me, standing a short distance away.

"Good, you're here." Darkrai greeted, as we entered. Her eyes suddenly fell on me, glaring, and her voice went to a low growl, as she said, "What do you want, Shane?"

"I've merely come to observe." I replied, calmly. "There's no rule against that, is there?"

I could tell that I was correct, as she just rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, just stay up in the stands."

I nodded, and started for the ladder to the first balcony. I climbed it with a minor amount of difficulty, as I tried to avoid hitting my finger on the rungs or side. When I was up at the seats, I chose one in the front row, and sat down.

As I looked down at the field, Darkrai asked Mew, "So, who goes first?"

"How about you two?" Mew replied. "I still have yet to see a fight between you and Shelby."

"Alright then." Darkrai replied. "Shelby, to your side."

"Right." Shelby said, nodding.

She went to stand in front of the door, while Darkrai went to the opposite wall. As they did this, Mew and Ellie went off of the field to the side.

"ESTR." Darkrai called out.

"Yes, Darkrai?" The blue girl said, appearing next to her.

"We are ready." Darkrai responded.

"Of course." ESTR said. "Begin!"

A bell rang, and the fight began. I was only half paying attention to the fight, more focused on getting ESTR's attention. Her eyes finally fell on me, and I nodded slightly, signaling that I need to speak with her. She nodded in return, before disappearing from her current location and reappearing next to me.

"Yes, Shane?" She asked me.

"Listen, I don't think that we'll be going out for a little bit." I said. "I don't know how long, but for a few days, at least."

"Oh?" ESTR asked me, curious. "Why?"

"Shelby got worried about me after she saw my hand last night." I explained. "She thinks that I may have broken my finger, so she wants me to take a small vacation for a little bit. She said that I've had too many close calls recently, and that last night was the last straw. So, it'll be at least a few days before she'll be calmed down enough for us to head out again."

"Alright." ESTR replied. "I can see where she's coming from, so I have no issue with it." I glared up at her, and she shrugged, before saying, "Well, it's true. You've almost been injured multiple times recently, and I don't want you to get hurt."

I sighed, and said, "Yeah, I know. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know so that there's no confusion as to why I'm not here tonight."

"Alright." She replied.

As ESTR returned to the battlefield, my attention returned to the fight. It finally ended when Darkrai knocked Shelby off of her feet, before knocking her weapons away. This caused a loud buzzer to go off, and ESTR declared Darkrai the victor.

"That was wonderful, Shelby." Darkrai praised, as she helped Shelby to her feet. Her eyes suddenly fell on me, and she said, "That's what a fight between a Champion and their Legend should look like, should the Champion actually care about their job."

I just rolled my eyes in response, letting out an exasperated sigh.

"Anyway," Mew said, obviously trying to defuse the situation, "now, I guess it's Ellie's turn to go against me."

"Of course." Darkrai said, prying her eyes from me.

As Mew and Ellie took to the field, I just leaned back in my seat, closing my eyes and sighed in annoyance.

* * *

**Scripted Foot Note**

**So, as I said, here is the note about my other story. Now, this story is special, and may not appeal to everyone, and if it doesn't then that is fine. This story is actually going to be an Archive Of Our Own exclusive story, due to the fact that it is actually an original work, and not set in any fandom. I will put the summary to it up in my profile in its own section soon, but know that I don't actually have a set release date for it, all I know is that I will put out the first chapter sometime after the twenty second, hopefully within the following week.**

* * *

**Y'know, I honestly do want to know what it feels like to break my finger. Yeah, I don't know why, but I want to know. Also, it is absolutely possible to break your finger by punching a Machamp. I know this because my friend broke his finger by punching a brick wall. Yeah, the people I know aren't the most intelligent, I know. Anyway, we also got to see some slightly bitchy Darkrai, which that's always nice. Right? I don't know. See you guys next chapter.**


	7. Will Anywhere Ever be Safe for You?

**Hey, look, an update. Anyway, I apologize, but this chapter is actually slightly late. Yeah, some of you are probably fucking confused as to what I mean by "late" as I updated really recently, so I'll explain. Recently, I've taken to this odd schedule of staying up until eight in the morning writing, putting out whatever chapter I finished, and then just downing about a pot of coffee while playing Hearthstone, followed by an hour or two of sleep at around noon. So, yeah, it's about nine thirty as I post this, therefor, it is late for me. Anyway, that happened. So, I don't actually think that I have any reviews to respond to, so let's get going.**

* * *

**Will Anywhere Ever be Safe for You?**

Shelby and I were alone, laying on the forest floor, just staring up at the sky, as stars slowly formed in it, the sun set already behind the trees. Normally we wouldn't be able to do this, with it being within the last week of November, as the ground is normally blanketed with snow. But, thankfully, the weather has been kind to us recently, so we've been able to be outside much more. She suddenly rolled over, rolling onto me. She dug her head into my chest, and let out a content sigh.

"Having you here for the past week has been so amazing." She said; her voice slightly muffled due to her current position. "It's so wonderful to be able to wake up in the morning and have you next to me, completely safe, and not have to wonder if you'll make it back at all."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her closer to me.

"I have to agree, it has been wonderful." I agreed, kissing her on the top of her head. "Waking up to have you wrapped up in my arms, and feeling sore as hell, is amazing."

Shelby looked up at me, and said, "Speaking of your little escapades as X, when will you actually tell the others?"

I sighed, and said, "Honestly, I don't think that I ever will."

"Why not?" She asked. "I mean, it'd probably make the others start actually respecting you, and you would actually be taken on missions."

"Besides the fact that I'm pretty sure that I'm breaking some rule," I replied, "I honestly wouldn't really want the others to respect me."

"Seriously?" She said, rising up from my chest slightly. "But it would make both of our lives much easier."

"Because it'd just seem way too weird." I answered. "That, and you heard what Chelsea said. With how much of a fanatic of X she is, I honestly don't know if discovering that I'm X would deter her. Honestly, it'd probably excite her, and make her actually act on her dreams, just because she would now have access to the person that she wants. And, I mean, with how much the whole Hall seems to love X, the other Champions possibly have the exact same thought in their head."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be very fun for you, would it?" She said. "That, and I'd be fairly miffed at all of them, as well as you."

"I would be miffed at myself, as well." I said. As I watched the moon slowly rise above the trees, I asked, "So, should we head back?"

Shelby looked up at the sky, and sighed, before saying, "I really don't feel like it. Can we just sleep outside tonight?"

"I don't see why not." I said, shrugging. "I mean, it's not snowing right now, so we should be good."

"Wonderful." She replied, snuggling down deeper into my chest. "Good night, Shane."

"G'night, Shelby." I said.

The moon continued rising over the trees, as our breathing slowed and we fell asleep.

* * *

I woke up to see the sun rising over the trees. I blinked in my drowsiness, yawing quietly. I glanced down, and saw that Shelby was still sleeping on my chest, her ears draped over her face, drifting up slightly with every exhale that she took. I moved my hand from the small of her back and up to her head, which I stroked softly. I froze as I heard a small giggle coming from behind me. I turned my head around, to see that Anna was standing at the edge of the trees, a small smile on her lips.

"You two make a cute couple." She said, her fluffy tail twitching in amusement.

I sighed, and said, "How much have you seen?"

"Not much, really." She replied. "I mean, I've only been sitting here for about five or six minutes."

"Please don't tell anyone." I begged. "We'd get kicked out, and I couldn't stand for that to happen to Shelby."

"Relax, your secret is safe with me." She reassured me. "You two are the only other Champions that I actually like here. That, and, as I said, you two make such an adorable couple."

I sighed with relief, and said, "Thank you, so much. I know that, despite my own feelings for this job, and the ones that I work with, Shelby here loves the job. I couldn't forgive myself if I caused her to lose it."

"Aww, that's so adorable." She said, walking over to me. She bent down and patted my head, saying, "It's so nice to see that you care so much for her, even willing to put her before yourself."

I just sighed, and mumbled, "Yeah, you don't know the half of it."

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Nothing." I said, shaking my head lightly. "So, is there any specific reason as to why you came out here, or were you just wandering?"

"No, there is a purpose." She said, standing up. "Arceus has called for Shelby. Apparently, she gets to go on another mission."

I nodded, and said, "Alright, thanks."

"No problem." She replied, walking away. Just before she disappeared into the trees, she turned around, and said, "And, in the future, try not to fall asleep together out in the open, especially this close to the Hall. You never know, I may not have been the first to find you."

I nodded, and said, "Yeah, thanks."

She nodded back, and left our small clearing. I sighed, dropping my head to the ground. _She's right, y'know. As much as I loved this, it could have been a disaster. Oh well, that's in the past._

I shook Shelby slightly, trying to wake her up, and said, "Hey, Shelby, you're needed."

She stirred lightly, and looked up at me, her eyes drooping with tire, and mumbled out, "What?"

"You've been called upon." I replied. "Apparently, you have a new mission tonight."

"Really?" She asked, rising from my chest slightly. I nodded, and she said, "Awesome."

She got off of my chest and stood up, as did I. She was about to rush out of the clearing, before I stopped her, my hand on her shoulder.

She turned to me, and I said, "Seeing as we both know that she'll want you training all day, can I have a goodbye hug?"

She wrapped her arms around me, and said, "I'll see you at dinner."

"Yeah, you too." I said, returning the hug.

We let go of each other, and she took off through the trees. I sighed deeply, as she disappeared from my view. I sank to the ground, starting to feel slightly sad.

"Yeah," I said, to myself, "you go off and have fun, being a fucking hero that actually gets known for the work, while I continue working in the shadows, never being identified, and rarely being seen. Y'know, good old Shane, doing more fucking work in the past few months than any of the Champions have ever done." I sighed, putting my head in my hands, "Although, I do suppose that that is all my fault. I mean, I could be getting renown, I could be getting showered in praise and honor, but, no, I'm just sitting here, having to hide my skill and work, all for some reason that not even I know."

I just sat there, my head in my hands, debating what I could do. I eventually got up and started walking through the woods. After about sixty minutes or so, I heard footsteps around me, and I froze.

"Well, well, well," a voice said, "what do we have here?"

Watching the trees around me, I saw Latios and Latias step out of them, smirks on their faces.

I sighed in annoyance, and said, "What do you two want?"

"Well," Latios said, the blue haired girl stalking closer to me, "we just wanted to come out and see you."

"And, of course, teach you a lesson." Latias finished.

"A lesson?" I asked, curious. "What lesson do you need to teach me?"

"Well, you see," Latios answered, "we've recently grown tired of a disgusting male such as yourself living here."

"So, we decided to 'persuade' you to leave." Latias said. "And I'm sure that others will appreciate it." She got up in my face, and said, "Especially Darkrai."

I felt my fists clench tightly, and I had to resist slamming them into the two women in front of me.

"Go away now." I commanded.

"Oh?" Latios said. "And why should we?"

"Because if you don't, then bad things will happen to you two." I growled out, my patience wearing thin.

Latias laughed, and said, "Oh, please. Like you could do anything to us. You're just a puny little weakling, nothing more than a disgusting excuse for a piece of flesh, you horrid male."

With that, she slammed a fist into my stomach, causing me to double over. The surprise attack was quickly followed up by a kick to my jaw from Latios, sending me flying to the ground. I barely had time to react, before the blue haired woman flew at me, a glowing Dragon Claw on her hand, aimed at my head. I rolled out of the way, but the claw still nicked me, sending a gash down my right cheek. As her claw stuck into the dirt where my head previously was, I took the chance to get up. I stood there, panting, as I watched Latias walk over and stand by her sister.

"What the fuck is up with you two?" I yelled, tasting metal, as my blood flowed from the gash in my cheek and into my mouth. "Fucking insulting me is one thing, but now you're just blatantly breaking the rules and assaulting me. What the hell?"

Latios just laughed, and said, "As we already told you, we got tired of you living here. So, we're changing that."

With that, they both started charging an attack in their hands, Latias with a Dragon Pulse, and Latios with a Dragon Breath.

"Listen to me." I said, my voice calming down. "This is your last chance. You can leave now and no one has to know about this, or you can continue and I will be sure to inform Arceus of this."

Latios laughed, before mockingly saying, "Oh, we're so scared of Arceus. Just because that little bitch is out leader doesn't mean shit."

"She isn't that good of a leader if she would allow a weakling such as you to stay here, anyway." Latias added.

And, with that, they let their attacks free, aimed directly at me. Before I had a chance to move, the attacks made contact, knocking me off of my feet and sending me flying. As I was flung through the air, I felt two things. I could feel my back snapping trees in half as I flew through them, and I could feel my shirt catch fire from the odd draconic flames. I stopped flying after going through what felt like five trees, and I hit another one to stop, which cause me to drop down to the forest floor. I fell on my side, where I coughed up blood, feeling the darkness of unconsciousness begin its approach. _No, stay awake, damn it. _I continued fighting the blackness, as I heard the two Eons begin to speak.

Latios scoffed, and said, "That seemed almost too easy. What shall we do now?"

"Well, we could always try and use our 'persuasive skills' on that trash fucker, as well." Latias replied. "It's not like we'll lose anything by her leaving."

That sentence seemed to do it for me. I snapped, losing my shit. I slowly staggered up, summoning Strife as I did. I then used my newfound burst of strength to dash over to the women, ignoring the intense pain, the desire to pass out, and the impending blackness. They both turned around to look at me, as I swung out with Strife. The blade hit both of them, not hard enough to cut, as I still couldn't hit that strength in my condition, but it did knock them off of their feet.

"Never fucking call her that again!" I yelled at them, as they hit the ground.

They immediately jumped up, and Latios said, "So, is the little fuck not done with his beating yet? Well, I'll be happy to oblige, should he want more."

She then leapt at me, and I did the only thing that I could think of. I stabbed. A piercing shriek of pain filled the air as the blade of Strife entered Latios's stomach, just below her breasts. She sunk lower onto the blade, her blood coating the blade as she did. I looked down and saw that her eyes were locked with mine, a mixture of defiance and a small amount of fear in them. When she reached the hilt of the blade, I put my boot on her chest and pushed down as hard as I could, causing her to slide off, with some difficulty. As her body hit the ground, her sister came rushing over, dropping to her knees. She looked up at me, tears in her eyes.

"What have you done?" She asked, through sobs.

"Oh, get the hell over it." I replied. "She's a Legend. So long as her body stays whole, she'll just come back to life in a few hours. Right now, she's essentially just passed out. If you don't believe me, just put your hand on her chest. It'll leave her with nothing more than a large scar."

She complied, placing her hand between her sisters blood splattered breasts. Looking closely, I could see that her hand was rising and falling steadily, aligned with her sister's breaths. As she sat there, I get rid of Strife and started through the woods, headed for the Hall. I had been walking for no more than five minutes, when I suddenly collapsed, unable to walk anymore. I dropped to the ground and, subsequently, into blackness.

* * *

When I awoke, I could see that the sun was falling behind the trees. I tried to get up, but fell to the ground in pain. I looked down at my body, wanting to do a quick examination of my injuries. I was covered in dry blood, and I saw that my shirt was barely more than a rag covering my chest, filled with holes burnt into the cloth. My jeans were in slightly better condition, although they appeared to be torn apart by the five trees that I smashed through. I attempted to move my legs, but I felt a jolting pain in my right one at my attempt. _Arceus, have I really broken something else? Fuck, now either the injuries will kill me, or Shelby will. _I could feel that I had been cut in more places on my body, and that they were starting to bleed again. I tried to stand up again, actually accomplishing it this time. A large jolt of pain shot up my body whenever I put pressure on my right leg, so I summoned Strife to use as a crutch. I then started the painful and slow walk back to the Hall. By the time that I arrived, I could barely keep myself up, even with the use of Strife. As I crossed the small garden, I could feel eyes watching me. I turned my head to see that Entei, Mewtwo, and Zapdos were eying me, obviously shocked. I just ignored them, as I entered the Hall. I started for the infirmary, dripping blood as I went, just as I had on my way through the woods. As I went, I passed Darkrai and Mew, but I paid them no attention, just keeping my head down. I reached the infirmary and opened the door to find it empty, thank Arceus. I entered, closing the door behind me, and went to one of the beds. I dropped down on it with a sigh, returning Strife as I did so. I took the remains of my shirt off to inspect my wounds. I threw the remains of the cloth as I checked out my arms. I had a few minor cuts, as well as some splinters embedded in my flesh, but nothing major. As I was reaching for my pants, the door suddenly opened, revealing Shelby standing there, worry carved into her face.

She immediately rushed in, slamming the door behind her, and said, "Arceus, Shane, what happened?"

"It's nothing." I replied, wincing in pain, as I waved it off. "Just some minor injuries."

"Minor?" She said, dropping to her knees next to me. "Shane, you look like you just lost a fight with a Tyranitar."

I sighed, and said, "Well, the victor of the fight is sort of undecided."

"You actually did get into a fight?" She asked, shocked. "Was it actually with a Tyranitar?"

"No, don't worry." I replied. "No dinosaurs, just dragons."

"Dragons?" She said, confused. After a few seconds, she said, "Wait a minute, you don't mean the Eons, do you?" I nodded, and she said, "How could they attack you? That's completely against the rules. We've got to report them to Arceus, she'll deal with-"

She was cut off, as I held my hand up.

"Don't worry about it." I replied. "I've already taken care of their punishment."

"How?" She asked. "What could you have done to them?"

I chuckled, ignoring the pain in my ribs, and said, "I made one hell of a scar on Latios's stomach."

"What?" Shelby asked, confused. "What do you mean?" I just shrugged, and she covered her mouth in shock, and said, "Did you seriously do it? You killed her?"

"Only temporarily." I replied. "The only way to completely kill a Legend is to destroy the body beyond repair. Honestly, if she hasn't woken up by now, than she should soon."

Shelby sighed, before saying, "I don't know how you did it, and I won't ask. What's important now, though, is fixing you up."

"Without anyone else knowing, of course." I added. She nodded, and I said, "How about this, I'll stitch up my cheek, while you go and get me a change of pants."

She nodded, and stood up. As she left the room, I opened the drawer on the bedside table and pulled out a bottle of painkillers, a needle, and some thread. I threaded the needle and began stitching the gash on my cheek. Just as I was finishing up, Shelby came back into the room, holding another pair of my black jeans in her hands.

"Here." She said, holding out the jeans, as I put the stitching supplies back in the drawer.

"Thank you." I replied, accepting the pants.

As she turned around, I reached for the zipper on my pants and undid it, but stopped and hissed in pain as I started moving them down from my waist. At this, Shelby turned around, worry still etched on her face, only now renewed.

She dropped down next to me and reached for my jeans, saying, "Here, let me help you."

"No." I said. "I can get it."

"No, Shane, you can't." She replied. "Just let me help you."

"I won't let you." I said, backing up some. "I don't want your heat to-"

I was interrupted by Shelby saying, "Damn it, Shane, I can keep my heat under control for a few seconds. Just let me help you."

I looked down at her, and saw a concerned look in her eyes. I sighed, moving my hand from my jeans.

"Fine, I submit." I said. "Just, if you start to lose it, back off and leave the room. I don't want you to try and do anything, especially with me in my current state."

She nodded, and reached for my jeans once again. She helped me change pants fairly smoothly, although she did appear to hover over my groin for an extended amount of time whenever she passed it. But, needless to say, it was embarrassing for both of us.

"There." She said, rising. "That wasn't too bad."

I looked at her face, and I could see a deep blush, visible even through her orange fur.

"Right." I said. I pocketed the other bottle of painkillers, and said, "Can you help me back to my room? I did something to my leg, and I can't really walk."

"Of course." She replied, as I stood up and tossed my arm around her. "Ready?"

I nodded, and we left the room. She helped me walk down to my door, before opening it and entering, before slowly lowering me to my bed, as well as moving one of my three pillows that we share to the foot of the bed, using it to elevate my leg. As I hit the bed, a thought occurred to me, one that frightened me. _What if they come after me tonight? I couldn't defend myself, even I was awake, in my current condition._

"Hey, Shelby?" I said. "Could you lock the door?"

"Why?" She asked.

I gulped, on the verge of frightened tears, and said, "Just do it, please. For me?"

Apparently the fear was clear in my voice, as she froze slightly, before nodding, and saying, "Sure."

She went over to the door and turned the lock with a click.

"Will you stay with me tonight, as well?" I asked.

"Of course." She replied, dropping down to the floor next to me. "Besides, it's not like I haven't been recently, anyway."

I nodded, and said, "Thanks."

"No problem." She replied. "Anything else?"

"Can you hit the lights please?" I asked.

She nodded, before getting up and turning off the lights.

"Goodnight, Shelby." I said into the darkness, as I heard her sit down again.

"Goodnight, Shane." She returned, before placing a kiss on my cheek.

I then fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

P.O.V Change: Shelby

I sighed as I sat there next to the sleeping Umbreon that is my boyfriend. A few minutes after he fell asleep, he started fidgeting some, so I brought my hand up to his head and began slowly stroking him, smoothing out his fur. This action seemed to calm him down, thankfully.

"Oh, Shane," I said, continuing my previous action, "what am I going to do with you? You're not safe out in the field, and you're at even more of a risk at home." I sighed again, saying, "Will anywhere ever be safe for you, Shane?"

He obviously didn't respond, instead just sinking lowed into his pillow and muttering something that sounded like "Shelby."

I smiled down at the handsome Umbreon that I loved, leaning down to kiss him.

"I love you so much, Shane Zeich." I said, to myself.

* * *

**So, yeah, this was a chapter. Y'know, it actually struck a chord in me to watch Shane not only get his ass kicked, but also get scared for his life. Yeah, it was sad. But, that's how it was written. So, I guess that I'm here now for some comic relief. Well, get over it, that doesn't always happen.**

**Yeah, that's sort of my little rule that I made for the Legends. Fun fact: sat here for, like, ten minutes trying to think of where I got it from while writing, and as soon as I put this in the doc manager, I remembered. If any of you have ever seen _Black Butler_ it comes from there. In it, demons can not die, so long as their body can be repaired, and they aren't killed by a special kind of weapon. Anyway, yeah, that's where it came from.**

**So, if you liked the chapter, as well as a new side of Shane that will be in more chapters to come, I invite you to drop me a favorite and/or a follow, on the story or myself. If you truly want to express your opinion, other than a simple "I like this" feel free to drop a review. See-yah, guys.**


	8. I'm so Fucking Weak and Useless

**Hello, readers, and welcome to the next chapter of this story, and the last of No Sleep Link that you'll see for a while. Now, some of you may be confused as hell as to what I mean by that, so let me explain. So, it is currently two thirteen in the morning, on August first. The last time I truly slept for more than, like, thirty minutes, was July thirtieth. So, I woke up at ten in the morning on the thirtieth, and haven't really slept since then. Therefor, I am currently No Sleep Link, and I am ending this No Sleep trilogy now. I say trilogy, due to the fact that I put up two chapters in this time on my new story, _Living a Life of Odd Luxury. _Therefor, trilogy. Anyway, no, that doesn't mean that I'm ending any stories, I'm just being a smartass. Anyway, shall we continue? Yeah, let's go.**

* * *

**I'm so Fucking Weak and Useless**

I opened my eyes to see the ceiling of my bedroom. I went to sit up and stretch, but quickly found that my arms and legs were tied to my bed. _What the hell? _I started pulling on my arm restraints, trying to free myself. Suddenly, the door to my room creaked open. My eyes shot to it, to see a blue haired woman enter, her hands behind her back.

She came over to me, and said, "Aww, is out little helpless Umbreon awake?"

"Let me the hell go, Latios." I demanded, pulling on the arm restraints again.

"Or what?" She asked me, sneering. "Or you'll yell for help? Or you'll cry for the mommy that never loved you in the first place?" She laughed, before saying, "Face it. You have no one that cares for you anymore. I mean, Darkrai did, but you ruined that."

"Bullshit!" I yelled back. "Shelby cares for me, I know it."

Latios laughed again, before tying a piece of cloth around my head and stuffing it into my mouth, gagging me, and said, "Do you really think that she gives a single fuck about you? Hell no! She never did. She was just playing with you, using you as her toy. I mean, if she truly cared about you, would she have not only left you all alone, but also left our door unlocked for me?"

_No! Bullshit! Shelby cares for me. _I tried to fight her words, push them from my head. But, as much as I fought her words, the truth in them hit me each time I heard them in my head. _Maybe she's right. Did Shelby really never care for me? Was I nothing more than a tool, a doll for her to play with, only to dispose of when she got bored with it? _As these thoughts penetrated my head, I could feel myself succumbing the them, and my resistance weakened.

"So, I see that you finally see the truth, don't you?" Latios said, smirking. "Well then, allow me to help you find your own peace." She brought her hands out in front of her, revealing a large knife, as she said, "And, luckily for you, you aren't a Legend. So, you won't regenerate."

As she brought the tip of the blade to my throat, I did no more than just sit there, accepting my fate. I felt her slash the blade across my neck, freeing my saddened soul from its joyless husk.

* * *

I shot up in my bed, a cold sweat covering my body, soaking my shirt. I tried to move my right leg, but stopped as a jolt of pain shot through it. I gritted my teeth against the pain, grunting quietly. I felt movement next to me, and I looked down to see that Shelby was lying next to me, asleep. I felt myself go to the verge of tears, and I dropped my head into my hands. _A dream. That's all it was, Shane. Just a dream. Shelby truly does love you, and you have no need to fear for your life, not with someone as capable as Shelby next to you. _Even though I knew that this was the truth, I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I tried to stifle my sobs as much as possible, but I appeared to fail, as I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around me.

"Was it the same one as always?" Shelby asked me.

I shook my head, not removing my hands.

"A new one?" She inquired, sounding shocked. "Really?" I nodded, and she said, "Will you tell me about it?"

I just sat there, trying to calm myself down. After a few minutes, the tears stopped, as did the sobs that were racking my body.

"Now then," Shelby said, holding me, "do you want to tell me about the dream?" I shook my head, and she said, "C'mon, Shane. You know that nothing will get better if you just keep it to yourself."

I looked at her, and I saw the care and worry in her eyes, and I caved immediately.

"Alright." I said, whimpering slightly. I sighed, before beginning, "It started off like the others, where I'm tied to the bed, alone. Then, just like always, Latios came in, her hands behind her back. Then she came over to me, and bent down to me, and started… she started…"

I couldn't go any further, as I kept had to fight back tears.

"Shh, shh, it's okay." Shelby said, patting my back. "You don't have to tell me if you truly don't want to."

I shook my head, and said, "No, I can do it. Then she started telling me that no one cares about me, nor have they ever. She taunted me about Darkrai, she taunted me about my mother, she…" I could feel more tears starting to form, but I fought through them, "she taunted me about you. She told me that you never really cared about me, and that I was just a toy to you, and that my emotions meant nothing to you."

She pulled my head closer to her, cradling me at her chest, slowly petting my fur, and she said, "Don't worry, Shane. That's not true, trust me. I promise, you're the most important thing in my life, and I don't ever want anyone to tell you otherwise. Okay?"

I nodded, feeling the backed up tears go away. She held me like this for multiple more minutes, just petting my head, until I felt my heart rate return to normal, and I stopped shaking.

"I-I'm good." I said, removing my head from her arms.

"Good." She said, kissing me on the cheek. "Now, how about we go back to sleep?"

I nodded, and we both lay back down. After a few minutes, I heard Shelby's breathing slow down, signaling that she had fallen asleep, but I just laid there, deep in thought.

* * *

I can't quite recall when I fell asleep, but the next thing I remember is waking up, my arm around Shelby. I had barely moved, when I felt the Flareon next to me shift. She turned her head around to face me, before kissing me.

"Good morning." She said.

"Morning." I replied, rather offhandedly.

"So, you wanna go and get some breakfast?" Shelby asked me, standing up.

"I'm not really hungry," I replied, "so I don't want anything."

"Really?" She asked me. "Nothing?"

"Really." I replied, scooting over to the edge of the bed. "Now, can you please help me?"

"Yeah." She said, bending down to me.

I put my arm around her Shelby's shoulders, and she helped lift me up. When she had a proper grip on me, we left my room, before slowly going down the hall.

"So," Shelby asked me, "do you want me to just take you to our hideout while I get food?"

"Yeah, that's fine." I replied.

We went past the cafeteria and left the Hall. We entered the forest and went straight to our hideout. She opened the door, and we entered.

"Here." She said, gently sitting me down on the couch.

"Thank you." I said, as she went to leave.

"I'll be back in a minute." She said, as she left, closing the door behind her.

As I heard Shelby's footsteps retreat, my mind began to wander. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even notice that she had returned until she sat down next to me, leaning on my shoulder.

"Hey." She said after a few minutes, getting my attention.

"Yes?" I asked.

"What's with you today?" She asked me.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"You've just been extremely distracted today." She said. "What's up?"

"Nothing, really." I replied.

She sighed, and said, "C'mon, Shane. You and I both know that I can tell when there's something going on. So, come on, what is it?"

I sighed, knowing that she was right, and took the opportunity to vent my frustration, "It's just that I'm so fucking weak and useless."

"What do you mean?" Shelby asked. "You aren't weak and useless."

"Yes, I am." I insisted. "I mean, look at me. I can't even walk around without help, let alone go out as X. Have you paid any attention to the news recently?" She shook her head, so I said, "They're calling me a fraud, saying that I was just in it for the fame, and as soon as the Organization stepped up their game, I back down. They're saying that I'm scared."

"Shane, that isn't your fault." She said. "And it sure as hell doesn't make you weak."

"No, but do you know what does?" I countered. "Waking up in the middle of the night, scared out of my mind, by a dream. Something that I know can't hurt me, something that only small children get frightened by. Yet, here I am, waking you up at who the hell knows what time in the morning with my tears of fear."

Shelby pulled me into a hug, and said, "Shane, that doesn't make you weak, and it doesn't make you vulnerable. All it means is that you are human."

I sighed, and said, "Well, then, I can't stand being human. I can't stand going to sleep every night with the fear that the Eons will sneak in and finish the job. And I absolutely can't stand the fear that they'll take you out with me."

"That won't happen." She reassured me.

"How can you guarantee that?" I asked. "Yes, you're a good fighter, but I'm not sure if you're good enough to take on two Legends at once."

"No, I don't think that I'm that good, either." She agreed. "But, I also don't think that it will ever come down to that. I'm sure that if Arceus ever heard of anything like that, she'd go after them immediately."

"Yeah, I hope so." I said, sighing.

Shelby looked like she was about to say something, but she was interrupted by her phone going off. She pulled it from her pocket, and let out a sigh.

"Well, it looks like I have training." She said. "Do you want me to bring you back to your room?"

I sighed, and said, "Yes, please."

* * *

I just continued lying there in bed, Shelby next to me. _Fuck, I feel so useless. Hell, I can't even stand being cooped up in here. _Making up my mind, I started getting off of the bed. I somehow managed to do so without waking Shelby up, which was an accomplishment in itself. I had Strife appear in my hand. _Sorry for this, buddy. _I then proceeded to use Strife as a crutch, as I left the room and went down the hallway, heading for the Hall's exit. I left the Hall and stepped out into the garden. It had snowed earlier today, so there was a blanket of white covering the ground, with the moonlight sparkling off of it beautifully. I just sat down in the snow, thinking. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep in the middle of the snowy garden.

* * *

**So, good chapter? Yeah, I know, it's short. I'll try and put out a longer chapter soon, but we'll see. So, fun fact, due to my intense tiredness, I almost changed that last section of the story, which honestly would have changed pretty much the rest of the story in all. So, yeah, writing while ****intensely tired isn't a good thing, kids. Oh, and, if anyone is curious, I also started the poll story, _Ashes to Ashes... _as well, and the first chapter is up now. So, have fun. See you guys soon, this time completely awake.  
**


	9. The Return of the Unsung Hero

**Ladies and gentlemen, I have another chapter for your faces. So, this is it kids. This is the return of our favorite unsung hero. But, first, reviews.**

**Orthodox: So, assuming that by "said overdose" you are referring to the fact that I use said much more than any other dialogue indicator, I am actually getting better about that. Trust me, I know that I'm bad about it, but I'm getting better about it. The commas, on the other hand, will take some time. Honestly, the reason that I put an abundance of them actually stems from a problem that I had as a child. When I was younger, I would pretty much never put commas anywhere, so now my mind is extremely careful, and I put fifty thousand of them, fearing that I'm going to miss places where they should be. But, once again, I am getting better on them, and I thank you for the feedback, criticism, and praise.**

**Zavender: Dude, if you're looking for anything sexual that is more than one couple, you'll have to check my other stories later. Not now, as I'm not that far, but later. But, I can deliver a fight scene this chapter, so, enjoy it.**

**Ddreamer9159: Done. :)**

**LostSoul: So, you're either on Ch.1 or Ch.2. On Ch.1, that is because I just had to deal with my story being taken down and having to be put back up, so, yeah, I was annoyed. On Ch.2 I was just having a shit day. Also, I'm putting this here, yet I don't even know if you're still reading. Well, I hope you are.**

* * *

**The Return of the Unsung Hero**

I opened my eyes to find that I was back on my bed, my head in Shelby's lap. She was currently running her hand over my head, staring down at me.

"So, you're awake." She commented upon noticing that my eyes were open.

"Yeah." I replied, sitting up. "So, what am I doing in here?"

"Celebi went out this morning to do her daily check to make sure that the cold didn't kill any plants, and she found you asleep in the snow." She replied. "So, she brought you in here, to me."

"Oh." I said, looking down.

"Why did you even go out there?" She asked me. "Why would you risk freezing to death?"

I shrugged, and replied, "I hadn't intended to fall asleep. I just wanted some fresh air."

"Well, don't do that again." She said, pulling me into a hug. "I was worried about you. Your breath was really slow, and you were cold to the touch."

"I'm sorry." I apologized. Having a sudden thought, I asked, "Wait, did Celebi notice my leg?"

"No." Shelby reassured me. "She didn't notice anything other than how cold you were." She stood up, and said, "C'mon. Arceus called for a meeting."

"About what?" I asked, as Shelby helped me up.

"I'm not quite sure." She replied. "Really, it doesn't seem like anyone knows."

Shelby opened my door and we left. I positioned myself how I normally do when we know that we will be in front of the others. I put my arm around her waist, and lightly put my foot down, giving the illusion that I was walking. We started for the meeting room, walking slowly. We entered unnoticed, and Shelby took the long way to her seat, allowing her to help me to my own. Upon sitting down, I saw Darkrai send a quick glance my way, before facing forward. Shelby appeared to get to her seat just in time, as Arceus entered the room, Anna following her closely.

"I imagine that you are all curious as to why this meeting has been called, so I shall cut to the chase." The white stag addressed us. "So, as we all know, we have recently had some help from a third party, one by the name of X."

At this, Shelby and I both locked eyes.

"Well, it appears that our helper has recently gone on an extended hiatus." She continued.

Suddenly, the screens in the room dropped down, all of them displaying the same newscast. The lights dimmed as the screen un-paused.

"As the situation in Black Mesa is escalating," the Pyroar on screen was saying, "the fear arises that something may have happened to our hero, X."

The screen switched over to an Espeon, who was saying, "The public is outraged with the sudden disappearance of our masked hero, X. Citizens are saying that he was nothing more than some guy with a few skills, in it for the fame, and ducking out when it got too hot."

The screen once again switched over, this time to a Charizard and a man.

"So," the Charizard asked the man, holding the microphone in front of him, "as a concerned citizen of Vorund, as well as someone who was saved by X himself, what is your opinion on his recent absence?"

The man sighed, before answering, "I honestly don't know at this point. I want to believe in X, and I want to think that he's out there, preparing. I mean, the guy saved me, for Arceus's sake." The man stared at the camera, before finishing, "X, if you're out there watching, please, come back. We need you."

The screen switched once again, this time to an elderly man sitting in a newsroom.

"As the world tumbles deeper into chaos, the public has only two questions," he was saying, "where is X? And will we ever see the return of our unsung hero?"

The screens froze on his face, and the lights came on. As my eyes left the screens, I could have sworn that Arceus was staring directly at me, but she looked away, so I just shrugged it off.

"Now then," She said, "seeing as it now appears to be just us fighting the Organization, we must step up on our missions. So, we will now be doing double the missions as we were."

With that, Arceus left the room, with Anna close behind. I locked eyes with Shelby, and we nodded at each other. As everyone got up to leave, she came over to me. I managed to stand up on my own, and we resumed our previous position, and left the room. We immediately left the hall, heading for our secret location. When we reached it, Shelby sat me on the couch, before joining me.

"I have to go out again." I said simply.

"Shane, you can't." She retaliated. "You're way too injured."

"That doesn't matter." I replied.

She sighed, and said, "Why don't you just go to Celebi and ask her to heal you?"

"Because of all of the questions." I replied. "And you know what that'd lead to."

"Yeah, I know." She retorted. "But I also know that you are in no condition to go out again."

I sighed, and submitted, saying, "Yeah, I know. But I can't stay here forever."

* * *

I sat there, watching the moon rise, as snow fell on me. I looked down at the garden from my place on the roof of the Hall glumly. Don't even ask how I got up here, but there are now a fair amount of buster sword sized holes in one of the walls.

"Fuck, I hate this." I said, poking my broken leg sadly.

"Well, you could always get it fixed by one of our healers." A voice said behind me.

I spun around, frightened, and saw Arceus standing behind me.

"L-Lady Arceus." I stammered. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"It's quite alright, Shane." She said, sitting down next to me. "You seem rather perturbed. Would you like to share?"

I sighed, thinking, before venting, "It's just how life's been recently. I mean, I managed to get Darkrai to hate me, and then I fucked up the only thing that made me feel important. Now I just feel so useless, and this leg hasn't helped."

"Darkrai doesn't hate you, Shane." Arceus said, shocking me.

"She doesn't?" I asked.

"Of course not." Arceus replied. "On the contrary, she cares deeply for you. Why else would she save you from dying?"

"What?" I asked. "You know?"

"Of course I know." She replied. "I am, after all, Arceus. I know more than you think. Such as, I know that you and Shelby have been dating for quite a while now."

Worried, I asked, "How much else do you know?"

"Oh, not too much more." She replied offhandedly, calming me slightly. "But I do know that to truly get Darkrai back on your side, you will need to find some way to impress her, and show her that you truly are the best Champion."

"Well, I can't exactly do that with a fucked leg." I said. "That, and I don't even know how I would impress her."

"Well then, allow me to help." She replied.

She moved her hand over to my injured leg and touched it. Her hand began to glow, as did my leg, and I felt a sharp pain in my leg. After a second or two, she removed her hand, and the glowing went away.

"What did you do?" I asked, confused.

"I helped you." She replied. "Now, try moving it."

Slightly wary, I did as I was told. Surprisingly, there was no pain whatsoever, and I could move my leg flawlessly.

"You healed me?" I asked, awestruck.

"Good as new." She replied. "Which reminds me."

She reached over to my shoulder and repeated the process. She then did the same to my injured hand.

Pulling away, she said, "Remember, bullets hurt like hell."

I froze, and said, "Wait, what did you say?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing." She replied. "I just remembered seeing that you winced whenever you used that arm, as well as your hand, so I assumed that you may have pulled something in it."

"Oh."I replied, as she got up.

"As for impressing Darkrai, you'll have to do that on your own." She said, beginning to walk away. "But, I do believe that you have something to attend to now, correct?"

"Absolutely." I replied, nodding.

"Well then, I'd get going if I were you." She said. "After all, this world needs a hero, and every unsung hero should remain hidden."

With that, she disappeared in a flash. _Can she teleport? More importantly, did she say what I think she said? _I quickly shook my thoughts. _It doesn't matter; I have a job to do. _I leapt from the roof, landing in the garden cleanly. I dashed through the Hall, reveling in my fixed body, and came to a skidding stop in front of my door. I entered to see that Shelby was still asleep on the bed, her chest rising and falling lightly with each breath.

I bent down and shook her, saying, "Hey, Shelby, wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked around, confused.

Her eyes finally found me, and she asked, "Shane? What are you doing standing up?"

"Celebrating my fixed leg and shoulder." I replied, grinning.

"What?" She asked, shocked. She sat up, and asked, "How did you get healed?"

"A friend helped me." I replied. "But, more importantly, I can get back to being X tonight."

Shelby suddenly got rather sad, a small frown appearing on her face, and she said, "Yeah. Great. Now the world gets you back."

Saddened by her reaction, I suddenly remembered something that I had been planning, prior to my broken hand.

"Actually, I have a little surprise that I think that you'll like." I said, grinning at her.

She looked up at me, curiously.

* * *

"So, you ready?" I asked through my mask, as we stood in the alley next to the twenty story office building that we're about to raid.

"I guess so." The person next to me said, their face hidden by a mask similar to mine, this one with a Y on it, rather than an X. "I mean, this is new to me."

"You'll be fine." I reassured, wrapping my arms around the black figure comfortingly. "I believe in you."

She nodded, and said, "Alright then. Whenever E's ready."

"You hear that?" I asked E. "Is the feed hooked up?"

"Almost." Was the response. "Really though, I don't quite understand why you want to have a live stream of this going to every T.V channel."

"Because, we need to let the people know that I'm back." I replied.

After a few more seconds, I heard a, "Alright. We're good."

"Amazing." I replied. "You really are a fucking genius. So how do I start it?"

"I'll handle that." E replied. "All you have to remember is to do what you do best, and that the camera is right between your eyes."

"Shouldn't be too hard." I said, shrugging. "Now, let's go."

As we moved to the front door, Y asked, "So, what's the plan here?"

"The place is filled with Organization members." I replied. "But, we only need to top floor. Up there, they have two hostages, the leader of Kynnesgrove's two sons. So, we free them, get them out of Mesa, and take them to their parent's safe house."

"Sounds slightly difficult." Y said.

I shrugged, and said, "C'mon, we've done this before."

"Yes, but we had more people then." She replied. "That, and I had a weapon that I know how to use effectively." She pulled her MP5K from her back, it's strap around her neck, and said, "I mean, I've never even shot a gun."

"It's simple." I instructed. "Aim it at the bad guys, pull the trigger and they die. And don't worry about ammo; it functions just like my Deagles."

She nodded, and I kicked open the front door to the building. I immediately noticed a Tyranitar behind a desk, and I pulled out my pistols. Before he could react, I launched a round at him. The bullet his him in the head, killing him instantly.

"Elevator, now." I instructed.

We dashed over to the elevator and called it down. It was empty, so we entered it, hitting the twentieth floor button.

"E, start it." I commanded.

"On it." He replied. After a few seconds, he said, "We're live."

"Alright then." I began.

P.O.V Change: Arceus

I was startled as my door flew open, revealing a panting Mew.

"Yes?" I asked calmly.

"Arceus, I apologize for my entrance, but you must come see this." She said, between pants. "X is back."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's apparently streaming his return." She replied. "Articuno noticed it while watching T.V, and we're all watching it in the meeting room. C'mon."

She dashed off without another word. I smiled lightly, as I followed her.

P.O.V Change: X

"So," I continued, "I know that a lot of you guys were worried that I don't actually give a fuck about you guys. Well, that's fucking absurd. I do this to help you guys, and for no other reason. I didn't ask for the fame, it came with the job." I sighed, and said, "Now, to explain my absence. I have been recruiting, and I now have some help."

I turned to face Y, and she nodded back at me.

As the elevator dinged, signaling our arrival at the twentieth floor, I said, "Now then, let's go."

As the elevator doors opened, E started the music on my phone, and _Underdog _by Motionless in White began to play. As we stepped out into a hallway, multiple men surrounded us, aiming their guns at us.

"Oh, a welcoming party." I commented. "How fun. Y?"

"Let's go." She replied.

We readied ourselves, before acting. Y dropped to her knees next to me, as I did a back flip over her. I spun in a circle in midair, launching off rounds, as Y did the same on the floor, not letting off of the trigger. As I landed, we stopped firing, and the bodies dropped, clearing the circle.

"Let's move." I said.

We took off running down the hall. As we went, two door opened in front of us, and a soldier stepped out of each. While Y stopped, I continued running at them. I dropped down and slid on my back at the legs of one of the men, knocking him down. As he dropped to me, I stopped his descent by shoving the barrel of one of my Deagles in his mouth, before pulling the trigger. As I did this, Y fired off a burst of lead, hitting the other soldier directly. As I glanced behind me, I saw a door open behind Y, and a soldier burst from it, dashing towards her. Acting quickly, I aimed my pistols between her legs and fired at his knee caps, dropping him to the ground. As he hit the floor, Y spun around, noticing him. She aimed at his face and fired off two rounds. Both found their targets, and he sunk to the floor. Y ran past me, grabbing my hand and pulling me up as she went. We continued sprinting down the corridor, and more doors opened up as we went. With three men on each side of the hall, we kept running. I reached the three on my side first, and I leapt onto the first one's chest. As he hit the floor, I stood on his chest, feeling a few assault rifle rounds fly past me. I quickly dispatched the other two on my side, just in time to watch Y mimic what I did previously.

I leaned down to the soldier that I was standing on and stared at his fear fill eyes, before aiming my guns at his head and asking, "Hostages. Where?"

"E-end of the hallway, and to the right. The door at the end of that hall. You can't miss it." He stammered out. "Please, don't kill me. I swear, I'll leave the-"

He didn't get a chance to finish, as I pulled the triggers on my guns. I leapt off of the body, and looked at Y.

"You heard him." I said.

She nodded at me, and we took off again. We made it to the room quickly, and I threw the door open. Inside, I saw five soldiers, two of which were holding a pair of young Shinx hostage.

"Release them." I demanded.

"I'd prefer not to." One of the soldiers said.

I nodded, and Y and I started firing. She took care of the three unoccupied soldiers, all of which had horrid aim, as they missed every single shot they fired at us, while I sent two accurate shots downrange, freeing the pair. They both stared at us in shock, tears in their eyes, as we rushed over to them, holstering our weapons as we went.

"We need to leave, now." Y said.

I suddenly heard a thunder of footsteps coming from the hall. Thinking quickly, I saw that the wall to our left was all windows, and there was a roof not too much shorter than the floor that we were currently on near it.

"Listen, you two will have to trust us, alright?" I addressed them. "This will be scary, but if you close your eyes than it will be over before you know it." They both nodded, and I crouched down, saying, "Alright, one of you climb on."

The larger of the two climbed on my back, and I watched Y do the same with the other one.

"Alright, now, close your eyes and hold on tight." I instructed. "No matter what, don't open them." I waited a few seconds, before asking, "Ready?"

"Ready." The two boys replied.

Y and I backed up a few steps, before I pulled one of my Deagles out again. I shot open the glass, before holstering my weapon. Y and I looked at each other and nodded, before taking off running at the broken window. We both leapt at the same time, and I could feel a small sense of weightlessness. We landed on the opposite roof and kept on running, going from roof to roof.

"E, shut off the feed and music, now." I commanded.

"On it." Was the reply.

As we continued running the music shut off, and we were given privacy again.

"So, where to?" Y asked me.

"There's a place that we can leap over the city wall up ahead, just keep going." I replied.

We continued running, leaving the sounds of sirens and helicopter blades behind us. We eventually reached our goal, a portion of the wall that was shorter than the others. We leapt onto the wall, before dropping down onto a roof that was just below it. We quickly got on the ground, before fleeing into the nearby forest. After a few more minutes, we stopped.

"Hey, kids, you can get off." I told them.

They slid off of our backs, landing on their feet. They opened their eyes and looked up at us, awestruck.

"Are you guys super heroes?" The smaller one asked, amazement in his voice.

I chuckled, and said, "No, not quite. But, we are the people that are bringing you back to your parents."

"You're taking us back to mommy and daddy?" The younger one asked.

I nodded, and they both wrapped what they could reach of us in a hug.

"Thank you so much." The older one said. "We thought that we would never see them again."

Y laughed, and said, "Well, you'll see them tonight. Now, c'mon, let's go."

The young Shinx let go of us, and we started walking through the trees, the kids glued to our sides. After about twenty minutes, the younger one started getting tired, so I picked him up and held him in my arms as he slept. It took us about thirty more minutes, before we reached our location. A small log cabin in the middle of a small clearing. I went up to the door and knocked.

A small panel on it opened up, and a pair of eyes looked out at me, as their owner said, "I'm sorry, but the owners of this house are on vacation in the Seadom Islands."

"I do hope that they are okay." I replied, knowing how to answer. "Last I heard, Hurricane Flynt just moved through, causing multiple tsunamis."

As I finished saying the confirmation phrase, the door was flung open, and I was greeted by a Luxray.

"X." He said, bringing me into a hug. "You've returned, and you brought our sons."

"Of course." I replied, as he released me. "I promised that I would."

His wife, a Sylveon, came up to stand next to him, and she saw her son in my arms.

"You truly did save them." She took the small Shinx from my arms, and said, "Thank you so much."

"All in a day's work." I said, as I was joined by Y and the other Shinx.

"Mommy." He said, running over to his mother.

"Come now, X." Their father said. "You wouldn't allow us to do anything but vocalize our thanks last time, but now you have done more than we ever could have asked of you. Please, there must be some way we can thank you."

I shook my head, and said, "No payment is need, Leonardo. I'm just happy to see a family reunited after spending months apart."

The Luxray's smile widened, and he said, "If you insist. I know how stubborn you can be with payment." He looked over at Y, and said, "I don't believe that we have met before. I am Leonardo, the former leader of Kynnesgrove."

"Y." She responded simply.

"Anyway, we must get going." I said, noticing the sun beginning to rise.

"Yes, of course." Leonardo replied. "Just remember, if you ever need help of any kind, we owe you a great debt."

I nodded, and we took off into the woods. When we were a fair distance away, we both dropped our return pads on the ground, and stepped on them. Once we were back home, we reset everything back to how it was and I returned Eve while Shelby went back to my room. When I entered my room, I saw the Flareon sitting on my bed, back in her normal clothes and her gear in her own chest under my bed.

"So, how was your first night?" I asked, beginning to take off my own gear.

"It was amazing." She replied gleefully. "I mean, we just helped reunite a family, and we get to go out and do more tomorrow night. I can't believe that we can help people this much now."

I chuckled, and said, "Yeah, now you know one of the reasons why I like this job so much. It feels amazing knowing that you're helping people so much."

"Yeah." She replied. After a few seconds, she asked me, "Hey, Shane?"

"Yeah?" I responded.

"So, tonight got me thinking." She started. "Do you think we could ever have kids?" I froze, shocked at the question, and she quickly covered her mouth, squeaking out, "Arceus, I'm so sorry, Shane. I don't know why I said that."

I just sat down next to her and kissed her on her forehead.

"Shelby, when all of this shit with the Organization is dealt with, I would love to start a family with you." I replied.

"Really?" She asked me, a hopeful tone in her voice. "Do you mean it?"

I chuckled, and said, "Of course. I love you, after all."

* * *

**So, good? Bad? So, yeah, a nice fight scene, some fun plot development, and the Alphabet Assassins have a new member. What, you don't like my nickname for them? Well, too bad, because I do. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Also, as a nice little hint thingy, the next chapter will taste like one of two things, either copper or citrus, I'm not quite sure yet. So, I'll see you next time.**


	10. I Love you so Much, Shelby

**Well, here is the next chapter in my Update Marathon. Next I'll be putting up a chapter to _Living a Life of Almost Luxury_, and then I can finally allow myself to sleep. Anyway, I really hope that you enjoy this chapter, because it centers around my favorite thing to write about. The wonderful romantic relationships that happen between my characters. Yeah, I just love writing them more than anything else. Well, on to the chapter.**

* * *

**I Love you so Much, Shelby**

I woke up fairly early. I glanced over and saw that Shelby was still asleep, snuggled up to me. I sat up, shaking my head._ Well, I guess that today is the day. Hell, I don't even know if this day means anything anymore. I mean, fuck, I'm dead. _I got up, somehow keeping myself from waking up Shelby. I went over to my dresser and put on a shirt, before leaving my room. I went down the hall, heading for the cafeteria. I entered the room and saw that the only other person in it was Anna. I grabbed an orange from the counter, before sitting down across from Anna.

"Hey." I greeted her.

"Morning." She returned, yawning quietly, as she poked her eggs with her fork.

"Didn't sleep much?" I asked.

"No, not really." She replied. "I had to deal with Chelsea making noise all night."

"What was she doing all night that was so loud?" I asked.

The Lopunny sighed, before saying, "She was fucking masturbating."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "Why?"

"Well, from what I heard, it had something to do with a certain consonant." She replied.

I groaned, and said, "Holy shit, she takes that obsession way too far."

"Yeah, I can absolutely agree." Anna said. "She was moaning so fucking loud that I'm pretty sure that most of the fucking Hall heard her. I honestly don't know how you didn't."

I just shrugged, knowing exactly how. Shelby and I had went out on a mission last night, and we didn't return until, like, four in the morning. Which, seeing as it's only five, that means that I only slept for one hour.

"Just luck, I guess." I replied.

"Anyway, you seem rather down today." Anna began. "Any reason why?"

I sighed, and said, "I'm not quite sure if I want to share."

"Oh, c'mon." She pressed. "You can tell me. I won't let anyone know."

I sighed again, and said, "Well, today is my sixteenth birthday."

"What?" Anna asked. "Why would you want to hide that?"

"Because, only three people know, being Shelby, Darkrai, and you." I replied. "While I know that Shelby will want to find some way to celebrate, Darkrai and I are still against each other, and we both know what would happen if the others found out."

"Yeah, I guess." She agreed. "Although, look at it this way, your birthday is only one week before Christmas."

"Why should I give a fuck about that?" I asked, involuntarily grinding my teeth and clenching my empty hand. "I mean, I was homeless before becoming here and, prior to that, my mother was always drunk and abusing me, so she definitely didn't give me shit."

"Um, Shane, you okay?" Anna asked me.

"Perfectly fine." I responded. "Why?"

"Well, that's a rather deep thing to drop on someone that you aren't that close to." She answered. "And, y'know, you sounded rather angry and spiteful."

I just shrugged, and said, "I don't know. I mean, I may be pseudo-immortal, but, in your words, we are all human."

"Yeah, I guess." She agreed, as I started peeling my orange. "So, you and Shelby have any plans for today?"

"Not really." I replied. "I mean, I know that Shelby told me that she has something planned, but I really don't know what it is."

"Well, that is how birthday surprises work." Anna pointed out.

"Yeah, I know." I replied, taking a slice of orange and biting it in half.

"Well, I hope that you're ready for your surprise, because here she is." Anna said, looking over my shoulder.

Before I could turn around, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my torso, and I was kissed on the cheek.

"Hey, babe." Shelby addressed me.

"Babe?" I inquired, as the Flareon sat down next to me. "That's new."

She shrugged, and said, "Yeah, I'm trying out some new nicknames. D'you like it?"

I shrugged, and said, "It's alright. No real issue."

"Well then, I think that it'll stick." She said. "So, you ready for your surprise?"

"Can I finish my orange first?" I asked, popping another slice into my mouth.

Shelby sighed, and said, "Oh, fine."

I quickly finished my orange, before being pulled towards the door by Shelby.

"See you later, Anna." I called out.

"Bye, have fun." The Lopunny replied.

"So, where are we going?" I asked Shelby, as she pulled me down the hallway.

"Just wait and see." She replied, pulling me outside.

She led the way through the woods, taking me deeper into the trees. After about five minutes, I recognized where she was taking me. Deciding that she probably knew what she was doing, I just kept silent. We eventually reached what I had known was the goal all along. Our secret cabin in the woods. She opened the door and led us inside, before closing the door behind us.

"Alright," I began, standing at the couch, "so, why are we here?"

She didn't answer, instead deciding to gently tackle me onto the couch, putting her head on my chest.

"Because I'm ready to give you your gift." She answered.

"Which is?" I inquired.

She planted a kiss on my lips, before moving next to my head and whispering, "Me."

I froze, shocked.

"What?" I asked. "Are you sure?"

"Of course." She replied, tugging on the collar of my shirt. "What, do you not want this to happen."

"Absolutely." I reassured her. "But, I just want to make sure that you're ready."

"Shane, not only am I beyond ready to take our relationship to the next level, but I've also been suffering for months." She replied. "So, it's pretty much a mutual gift."

"Alright then." I replied. "Well then, shall we begin?"

"Absolutely." She answered, a smile on her face.

She reached down and gripped the hem of my shirt. She began pulling it up, revealing my chest. When the cloth was completely off of my chest, I reached for the bottom of hers, as well. I gripped her shirt, before slowly pulling it up her torso. She lifted her arms up, allowing me to remove her shirt. I looked down at her uncovered torso, loving what I saw. Her stomach was flat to an extent, but it still had some slight muscle definition caused by her time as a Champion. Granted, her stomach was slightly difficult to see beyond her fairly large D-cup breasts, her nipples sticking out erect in the cold weather. I instinctively moved my hands over to cup her breasts, using my thumb and index finger on each hand to tweeze and play with her nipples. She let out a small gasp of pleasure, dropping down from her raised position as her hands lost their grip.

"Holy shit, Shane." She gasped out. "How did you know that that would feel so good?"

I shrugged, and said, "I just guessed, really."

She kissed my lips, and said, "Well, that was a very lucky guess. Now, how about we continue?"

"Agreed." I replied.

I then reached down to her jeans, finding the button and zipper. I unbuttoned her jeans, before gripping the zipper and pulled it down. She then kicked off her jeans, with some minute help from me. When her jeans were lying on the floor, I looked down to see her exposed crotch.

"Here, follow my lead." I requested.

Shelby nodded in response. I held her tightly, before rolling off of the couch, landing on the floor with her on the bottom.

"Sorry." I apologized. "But we don't have very much mobility up there."

She nodded, and said, "I understand."

I slowly began trailing kissed down the Flareon's body, making sure to pay extra attention to her perked up nipples. When I reached them, I ran my tongue across each one, before latching onto the right on with my teeth. As I tugged lightly on the nipple in my mouth, flicking it with my tongue constantly, I reached up and gripped her other nipple in my hand, before pinching and teasing the little nub. Shelby began letting out a constant stream of quiet gasps of pleasure, which strengthened and grew in volume each time that I gave her nipple a little nibble. After a small amount of time with my mouth on her right nipple, I swapped over, moving my hand up to her other nipple and repeating the process. After another small amount of time, I began moving down again, until I came to my goal. Her moist slit. I grazed my tongue across her outer lips, tasting her juices slightly. They had a definite taste to them, but I couldn't quite tell what it was. I then slowly dug my tongue into her slit, immediately being greeted by a nice heat, flicking it around inside, causing the adorable Flareon to moan loudly. I dug my wet appendage deeper into her cavern, licking her walls as I went. By now I could tell the taste clearly. It was a wonderful mixture of some kind of pepper, judging by the taste, Cayenne, combined with cinnamon and an unidentifiable spicy flavor. Her juices were spicy enough to slightly numb my tongue, but no more. As my tongue went deeper into the Flareon, assaulting her walls as it went, her moans kept intensifying, to the point where I was positive that they could be heard from outside. I began ghosting my hand around her slit, searching for a particular part of her genitalia. I finally found the little nub after a few seconds of searching. I immediately took it between my nails and lightly pinched her clitoris, causing her to explode in loud moans. Smiling around my tongue, I slowly brought my tongue out, teasing her with my speed and flicks, as well as the little pinches to her nub. When her tunnel was completely void of my tongue, I took the opportunity run my tongue over her slit at a teasingly slow speed. As I reached her small nub, I moved my hand away from it, before latching onto it and nibbling it slightly. This appeared to be just the right action, as she immediately let out the loudest moan so far, right as her slit started shooting out her delicious juices. I quickly moved my mouth to catch her juices in my mouth, savoring the spicy taste of each splash that was jettisoned out onto my tongue. Her orgasm lasted for almost thirty seconds, and I kept pressed to her slit the entire time. When she was finally done, I pulled away to see that she was panting. I moved up to her mouth, and gazed at her. As I did this, I felt some of her juices that were left in mouth dribble down onto my lips. The panting Flareon grabbed my chin, bringing us together into a kiss.

When we pulled apart, she asked, "Cinnamon?"

"Let's just say that you taste amazing." I replied.

She chuckled, and said, "Well, how about I see what you taste like?"

Without another word, she flipped us over to where she was on top, with me lying on my back. She moved down to my jeans, before unbuttoning and unzipping them. She gripped the waistband of my jeans, slowly pulling them down, revealing my semi-erect member. She just sat there, gawking at my exposed phallus, before ghosting her hands across my member. She slowly brought her head down to my length, before nervously sticking her tongue out. She took a nervous lick on my member, going from the halfway point up to the very tip, taking a second to run her tongue over the opening. After a few slow licks, she moved her tongue down to the very bottom of my length, before running her tongue to the tip, sending a few jolts of pleasure through my body. As I reached my full seven and a half inches, she tilted her head to the side, moving down my member. She put her mouth on a small amount of my member, before looking up at me with a cute look on her face. I chuckled lightly, seconds before she went back up to my head and wrapped her lips around it. I could feel her flick her tongue across my head, slowly running her wet appendage over my sensitive organ. She did this for a minute or so, each slow flick of her tongue sending minute jolts of pleasure through my body. She eventually moved on, though, as she slowly took in my whole shaft, allowing me to clearly feel when I went back into her throat. She began bobbing her head up and down on my length, taking on an antagonizing slow pace, teasing me with the constant small pleasure being sent through my body. _Well, I guess that I do deserve this. _After a while of her teasing, she quickly shot her head down my length, causing me to gasp at the sudden pleasure. She then pulled up slowly, reaching down to play with my testicles as she did. I felt her lightly squeeze my genitals, just as she reached my head. She continued this tactic until I felt my stomach tighten. She could obviously tell that I was close by my groan of approval, so she gave me another light squeeze, before launching her head down my length. As soon as he lips touched my groin, I felt my release be set free. She pulled her mouth up to where she had only my head in her mouth, just as I started shooting out my seed. As I succumbed to the pleasure of my orgasm, I let out a prolonged groan. When I finally finished shooting my seed into her mouth, she released my head from her lips with a small popping sound. She moved up to my face, locking me in a kiss again. Our tongues immediately began fighting, swapping our spit, as well as what was left of my release. Curiously, my seed tasted fairly good, being a combination between a slightly sour flavor, as well as a flavor similar to chocolate, mixed with the obvious salty taste. We eventually pulled away, our lips connected by a thin string of our spit and my seed.

"Do you want to move on?" Shelby asked me.

I nodded, before flipping over again, to where she was under me. I lined myself up with her entrance, rubbing my head against her slit.

"Ready?" I asked.

The Flareon nodded, so I began slowly pushing into her tunnel. I was quickly shocked by the intense heat around my member, as well as the tightness of her virgin orifice. I continued pushing in, each millimeter moved causing Shelby to release a moan. I eventually reached a barrier, and I knew what it was immediately.

"Are you sure?" I asked. She nodded, and I said, "This will hurt some, but only for a short amount of time."

She nodded, and I backed myself up slightly. I pushed in swiftly, shattering her barrier and receiving the gift of her virginity. As I did this, she screamed, but I managed to muffle it by pressing my lips to hers in a passionate kiss. I stared into her slightly tears eyes, until she finally nodded her head. I nodded back, breaking our kiss, before slowly pulling out of her, causing her to moan in pleasure. I pulled out until just my head was in, before driving myself back into her warm tunnel. As I hilted inside of the beautiful Flareon, we both let out a loud gasp of pleasure. I continued doing this, building up speed with each thrust, until my hips were no more than a blur, slamming against her groin. I continued slamming into her, both of us moaning uncontrollably at the intense amount of pleasure that was shooting through us. After a few minutes, I felt her tunnel tighten even more, and I knew that she was close. Not too long after noticing this, I could feel myself getting nearer to my end. I lightly squeezed her wrist, letting her know how close I was. I looked at her expectantly, and she nodded, giving me permission. It only took a few more seconds, before I felt her walls tighten up and grip me like a flaming vice, causing me to be thrown over the edge. My body locked up as I hilted my length inside of her, shooting my seed deep into the Flareon under me. We stayed like this for multiple minutes, before our orgasms finally ceased. I collapsed onto the Flareon, both of us panting rapidly.

When we finally calmed down, I said, "I love you so much, Shelby."

"And I you, Shane." She replied, as I wrapped my arms around her, flipping to where she was lying ontop of me, my member still buried inside of her.

She reached up to the couch and grabbed the blanket that we kept up there, pulling it off to cover us, just as the cold of the winter finally began creeping over our bodies, sending chills down my spine. As the cloth covered our bodies, I pulled Shelby even tighter into our hug, locking my lips with hers in a kiss. We broke apart a while later, shortly before falling asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

**Well guys, how was it? Please leave feedback. This is only my second lemon, the first being in _The Half-blood Pokemorph_ and I didn't get any feedback there, so I would love some on here. I really want to know if I did well. Honestly, with my lemons I don't try to write just some random stupid smut, made for the sole purpose to give you something to pleasure yourself to. I write them to show the true romance that exists in a relationship, and just how much a pair of people can love each other, and care for each other. Anyway, I'll see you guys either in my other story, or in the next chapter. Bye.**


	11. How About we Step it the Fuck Up?

**Hey, look. I'm back!**

**Ashley: Hmph, took you long enough.**

**Link: Oh, shut up. I was busy.**

**Ash: And lazy.**

**Link: That is horridly incorrect, child.**

**Ash: No, it's only slightly incorrect. You can't tell me that you didn't get distracted with Far Cry 3.**

**Link: Well, I see no issue with that. And, besides, I was also talking to my boyfriend. Y'know, he's sort of important.**

**Ash: *Sigh* Fine. Romance does beat all. You know my weakness.**

**Link: *Chuckle* Yep. I fucking do. Now! Who's ready for a new chapter!**

**Ash: *Sigh* Just shut up and start it. Remember, I still have places to go.**

**Link: Fine. Have fun. We'll see you soon.**

* * *

**How About we Step it the Fuck Up?**

Shelby and I were sitting in the snowy forest, side by side, listening to the sounds of the Pokemon that call this place their home.

"Y'know," the Flareon began, "this place is really relaxing. I wish that we got to do this more."

"Yep." I agreed, using a stick to move around the logs in the small fire that she had created for warmth. "But, relaxation doesn't come with our job description, sadly."

At this, Shelby's phone began ringing, obviously wanting to support my point.

She sighed, pulling it out of her pocket, as she said, "Every damn time we start to enjoy just being around each other, this shit has to happen." She answered the call, greeting, "Hello, Darkrai." There was a pause, before, "I'll be right there."

As she pocketed her phone, I asked, "Work?"

"Yep." She answered. "We apparently have a meeting with Arceus about our recent missions."

"How long will it take?" I asked, already running through my plan in my head.

"I don't know." She replied, sighing. "It could take only a few minute, or it could take hours. See you at dinner?"

"Of course." I told her, as she stood up.

She bent down, planting a kiss on my lips, and said, "Love you."

"Love you, too." I replied, as she started to walk away.

As I watched her tail disappear through the trees, I continued sitting there, absentmindedly playing with the logs. _Alright, one more time. I know that she doesn't have anything planned for today, so I should be able to find her somewhere, most likely in the garden Shouldn't be hard enough. I'll give her, say, an hour. Yep, sounds good. _I rose from my spot, put out the fire, and started towards the Hall. Upon reaching the garden, I noticed that the person whom I desire was nowhere to be found. _Where the hell is that bitchy Arcanine. _Looking around, I did see a certain Meganium. _She may know. _I went over to Maggie, hoping that I would get a legitimate answer, rather than some insult.

"Hey!" I called to her, as I approached.

She looked up from the book that she was reading and, upon seeing me, sighed, before saying, "What do you want, Shane?"

Shocked, I asked, "What did you just call me?"

"What?" She replied. "That is your name, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah," I answered, "but I didn't think that you actually remembered it."

She scoffed, and said, "Of course I remembered it."

"Then why did you always call me 'male' and 'trash' like the others?" I asked. She just shrugged, so I continued, "And what's with the sudden lack of blind hatred to me?"

She sighed, closing her book.

"Shane, it's possible to warm up to people over time, y'know." She told me. "Did I hate you originally? Absolutely, but people change. I could always go back to how I used to be, if you want me to."

"N-No." I reassured her. "I'm alright with this. It's… nice, really. I like having more than five or six people in here that don't hate me."

"Well, I'm not the only one that's getting a change in how we think." She informed me. "I mean, Jesse's started hating you less, then there's Ally, and even Shaymin and Mewtwo have started liking having you around, despite the fact that you don't actually go on missions."

"I honestly hadn't realized that Mewtwo actually hated me." I said. "Granted, we haven't exactly spent a large amount of time together, but still."

"Well, she did. Just not so much, anymore." Maggie told me. "So, what do you need?"

"I was wondering if you had seen Chelsea around." I told her.

"Chelsea?" She asked me, confused. "What do you want her for?"

"I want to speak to her about something." I replied, simply.

"Um, okay." She said, still confused. "Last I saw of her, she was eating lunch."

"Alright, thanks." I said, beginning to walk away.

"No problem." She called after me.

I was just about to enter the building, when a thought occurred to me.

"Hey, Maggie?" I started, turning around. She looked up from her reopened book, and I asked, "So, what made people start to like me?"

"Well, I can't speak for the others, but for me it was how you treated Shelby." She replied. My confusion was evidently showing on my face, as she explained, "You just treated her so perfectly; as if she was royalty. You were always so nice to her, going out of your way to try and make her happy, even while you were injured. And, well… it made me realize that not all males are bad."

I smiled at her, and said, "Thanks. That means a lot to me."

"Anytime." She replied, smiling back at me.

I turned, entering the Hall. I started for the cafeteria, hoping that I wouldn't find too many people in there. I entered the room to see that it was void of almost all life, save for Chelsea and her group of fucks, consisting of Jenna, Chelsea herself, and the new addition of Alexis, all of whom were sitting at a table together. I went over to their table and crouched down next to them, causing their conversation to stop.

"What the hell do you think you're doing this close to us, male?" Chelsea asked me, her usual spite and hatred dripping from her words.

"Oh, I just stopped by to say hi." I replied, taking on a friendly voice and a large smile.

"Why the fuck would we want you near us?" Jenna retorted.

I shrugged, and said, "Well, I thought that you guys could use some more friends, especially after the obvious exclusion of Maggie."

"Why the hell do you think that she was kicked out, you fuck?" Alexis asked.

I shrugged, and suggested, "She doesn't think that Dahvie Vanity is cute?"

The Arcanine took my bait, letting out a growl and coating her tail in an Iron Tail, before holding the piece of metal up to my throat threateningly.

"What's with the sudden hostility?" I asked.

"Shut the fuck up before I have to dirty my clothes with your blood, trash." She growled at me. "Now, piss off, before I kill you."

I stood up, chuckling, and sarcastically said, "Yeah, because you could kill me. Sure."

She shot up, getting in my face, and growled, "What was that, male?"

"What, getting a little scared now that someone is ready to challenge your reign of queen cunt?" I teased, glaring down at her.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" She asked.

"You heard me, bitch." I replied, growling deeply.

She sent a fist at me, but I easily caught it. Her other one came flying at me, as well, but it quickly met my palm, too. As I glared down at her again, I saw the same look of defiance and hatred that stayed there, except now it seemed more intense.

"How about we settle this like Champions, rather than grade school kids?" I suggested, releasing her hands.

She laughed, and mocked, "Do you truly think that you can beat me?"

I shrugged, and replied, "Maybe. But we'll never know if you don't accept my challenge."

"Alright." She huffed. "What are your terms?"

"Find four people and meet me in the training room." I told her. "You have one hour."

As I went to walk away, she asked me, "Any four people?"

"Sure, I don't give a fuck." I replied, leaving the room.

* * *

I stepped into the training room, an explosion of noise greeting me. As I entered, I looked around, seeing that the stands were full of the others. Looking across at my enemies, I smirked as my predictions were confirmed. Standing on the opposite side of the room was Chelsea, her halberd in hand; the Eons, their twin cutlasses ready, Entei, her dual scimitars already coated in fire, and bringing up the end of the line, unsurprisingly, stood Moltres, her real weapons at the ready. Apparently, the sword that I had seen her with previously was only the weapon that she used on stealth missions, as her real weapons didn't really fit the bill properly. Granted, if you had long coils of flaming chains wrapping up your arms, you wouldn't really be able to sneak efficiently either, would you? As I was about to step onto the field, I was suddenly hit by someone, almost knocking me over. I looked at the assailant to see that it was Articuno, and that my right arm had her hands around it.

"Articuno, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Stopping you from getting murdered." She answered. "Honestly, are you so willing to die that you would fight them? Chelsea and the fucking Legends?"

I just shrugged, and said, "Dying doesn't hurt too much, really." She look at me with a confused look on her face, so I added, "And, besides, you can't stop me. I've already set my mind to it."

"I may not be able to stop you from breaking the rules, no." She replied. "But Arceus can, and Mew's already getting her."

I just smirked, telling her, "Good."

* * *

P.O.V Change: Arceus

I held my hand up, stopping Darkrai in the middle of her sentence about Shelby's mission progress, as I heard footsteps rush down the hall. All three of our heads turned to the door as it shot open, revealing a panting Mew in her human form.

"Hello Mew." I calmly greeted her. "Out for an afternoon jog?"

"Arceus, you have to come quick." She urged. "It's Shane."

"What?" Shelby and Darkrai asked simultaneously. "What happened?"

"He's about to have a fight." Mew replied. "A five versus one."

"With who?" Darkrai asked her, shocked.

"He's against Chelsea, Moltres, Entei, and the Eons." The pink haired girl replied.

"What?" Darkrai said, leaping from her chair. "He'll be slaughtered!"

With that, she ran out of the room, Shelby at her heels, almost knocking Mew over. I calmly got up from my seat, before heading for the door.

"Why are you so calm?" Mew asked me, outraged. "He's not only breaking the rules, but he's also condemning himself!"

"Oh, I'm sure that it will be entertaining, don't worry." I replied, as we started down the hall. "Besides, I already know who will be the victor. It's quite obvious, really."

She just scowled at me, before rushing off down the hall. _So, you're finally showing your true colors. I must say, young Champion, it has taken you quite a long time._

* * *

P.O.V Change: Shane

The door to the training room burst open just as I started to enter the field. I turned around to see Darkrai, Shelby, and Mew rush in, followed by a calm Arceus.

"Shane, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Darkrai asked me, her voice raised, allowing her tone of worry to creep in clearly.

"Well, if I can stop being interrupted, then I would be about to fight." I told her.

"No, you aren't." The reaper replied. "You'll die!"

I just shrugged, and said, "It wouldn't be the first time."

She sighed in annoyance, and turned to Arceus, telling the anthromorphic white stag, "Aren't you going to stop him? He's breaking the rules!"

The Alpha Pokemorph just shrugged, replying, "Who am I to stand in the way of a good fight? And, besides, if you would just compare the skill levels, it's quite obvious who will win."

Darkrai rolled her eyes, turning back to me.

"Shane, don't do this. You'll be slaughtered." She begged me.

"Will you take me back as your Champion?" I calmly asked.

"What?" She replied, both confused and shocked. "Shane, this isn't the time to discuss this!"

"Then we can talk about it after the fight." I told her.

She sighed again, and said, "Damn it." She turned to Shelby and added, "You're his friend. You talk him out of it."

The Flareon froze for a second, before bringing herself back to reality. She came over to me calmly.

"Shane, can you beat them?" She asked me.

I chuckled, and joked, "What, do you not have faith in me?"

She grabbed my shoulders, surprising me, and said, "You know that I believe in you, no matter what you do. But, that wasn't my question. Do you believe in yourself?"

I nodded slowly, replying, "Yes, I believe that I can beat them."

She nodded to me, before bringing me into a deep kiss. We held it for multiple seconds, sounds of shocked gasps mixing with a few whistles. When we pulled apart, we stared into each other's eyes.

"Give 'em hell." Shelby told me.

I nodded, and, she ran over to the sidelines. I saw that Darkrai was staring at me, mouth agape, so I just smiled back, before heading onto my side of the field.

"So, are you finally done giving your last will and testament?" Chelsea taunted me, from across the arena.

"Oh? That was what I was doing?" I replied. "I hadn't realized it." The Arcanine just scoffed, as I called out, "ESTR?"

The girl appeared next to me, answering, "Yes, Warrior?"

"Warrior?" I asked her.

"It is the title given to the best Champion here." She explained. "The one who truly fits what the Champions are."

"Um, okay." I said, confused. "Anyway, can we begin?"

She nodded, and replied, "Of course, Shane."

She disappeared, and I watched as a leader board popped up on the wall. On the left was my ranking, showing off a proud nothing, with Chelsea's ranking to the right, with a large "vs" in between. After a few seconds, rankings for the Legends on Chelsea's side appeared under her own.

"Begin." I heard ESTR's voice ring out.

I locked eyes with my opponents, all of which had their weapon's drawn, while I merely stood unarmed. I just nodded at the group, keeping still. Within a few seconds, I was faced with two flaming chains flying my way. _Let's go! _Working quickly, I formed a small Dark Pulse on the bottom of my feet. I jumped up lightly, detonating the Pulses, causing me to fly high into the air, narrowly avoiding the Moltres's attack. I did a back flip, landing a foot or so away perfectly.

As all eyes went to me, shocked, I called, "ESTR!" She appeared next to me, and I said, "How about a nice fight tune?"

"Of course." She replied, smiling. "What one?"

I thought for a second, before telling her, "How about we be royalty for a little bit?"

"Of course." She replied.

She disappeared again. After a few seconds, _King for a Day _by Pierce the Veil and Kellin Quinn started blasting out of the walls. I smirked, before signaling for opponents to attack me. They complied, Chelsea leading the way, her halberd raised, with the Eons following closely. As they drew nearer, I formed another Pulse on my right foot, getting ready. Chelsea reached me quickly, swinging her weapon down sharply. I reached my hands out and caught it, holding it by the sides of the blade.

"Too slow." I taunted her shocked face.

I moved my hands down to the handle of the weapon, before swinging myself around. My right foot made contact with Chelsea's stomach, and I exploded the Pulse on impact. The force of the attack sent her flying back into the Eons, knocking them down, as her halberd slipped from her hands and into mine. I spun the weapon around, before twirling in a circle and sending the halberd flying towards Moltres. The phoenix froze, the weapon getting closer. Just before she was hit, the weapon disappeared, just as I had thought. I turned to see that Chelsea and the Eons were back on their feet, weapons ready. I chuckled at the scene, before being cut short by a flaming blade flying past my head. I looked over to see that Entei was rushing towards me, only one sword in her hand. She reached me, stabbing for my stomach, but I caught the blade, the tip of it piercing my hand. I gasped in pain as I watched the tip of the weapon sink into my palm.

I glared at the dog, before growling, "Now you've made me mad, mutt."

I charged a Dark Pulse in my free hand, before bringing the fist down onto Entei, activating the attack at the same time. She let go of the weapon as she was launched to the ground. She hit the floor with enough force to actually skip back into the air slightly, where I hit her with a Pulse Kick, sending her flying away. I gripped the handle of the scimitar, before yanking it from my wound. As I did so, blood began seeping out of the hole, but I ignored it. I threw the weapon away, growling lightly.

I glared at my opponents, before saying, "How about we step it the fuck up?"

I dropped my injured right hand to my side, calling out Strife. My large weapon formed quickly, shining brightly as it materialized, before I felt it cause a minute amount of pain on the wound. Ignoring the discomfort, I rushed forward, Strife trailing behind me. The others all grouped together, readying their weapons. I coated Strife in a black aura, signaling that it was now imbued with a Dark Pulse, and swung upwards upon reaching them. The attack exploded as the blade hit, causing all of us to be thrown back. I picked myself up, and saw that the entire other half of the arena was covered in a dark smoke. I trained my eyes onto the smoke, searching for anyone. Suddenly, from the blackness, came a long blue cutlass, slicing through the air, aimed at me. I didn't have enough time to move, as I felt the blade enter my shoulder, causing cheers to explode from the crowd, with a few gasps mixed in. I gasped in pain, resisting dropping to my knees, as the weapon pierced my left shoulder, going all of the way through. As I felt blood seep down my arm, the smoke cleared, revealing my opponents standing there, triumphant looks on their faces.

"Well, I guess that that settles it." Latios taunted, smirking.

I just pulled the blade from my body, gripping it in my hand tightly. I took off running, ignoring the urge to fall, the sword stuck out straight. Before anyone could react, I reached Latios, plunging the blade into her chest. As the crowd shouted in surprise, I retracted the blade, shoving it into her stomach.

"Not even fucking close." I whispered into the blue Eons ear.

I was answered by a few coughs of blood, as her body dropped. I stood up straight, to see that all eyes were trained onto me. Hell, even Arceus looked shocked.

I locked eyes with Latias and said, "C'mon, it's not like that's the first time I've killed that bitch. All I did was add two new scars."

Her expression turned from one of shock to one of anger, and she charged at me, her own swords ready. I sidestepped, sticking out my foot. Latias tripped over my leg, falling to the ground. As she fell, I readied a Pulse Punch, before sending it flying into her chest, sending her flying back. She hit the ground a few feet away, coughing roughly. I spun around, facing the three other shocked faces.

"So, are we gonna fucking continue, or do I just win?" I taunted, summoning Strife.

They all growled at me, before rushing me simultaneously. I just smirked, lashing out with Strife. I hit all of them simultaneously, knocking them off of their feet. I suddenly felt a weight land on my back, before red and white arms began clawing at me. I dropped Strife, before grabbing the arms midswing. I sent Latias flying off of my back, into a wall, where she dropped to the floor, unconscious. _Two down. Three more. _

"So, shall we continue?" I taunted my enemies, as they regained their footing.

I was answered by Entei rushing towards me, her swords aimed at my chest. Ignoring the pain rushing through my body, and the blood pouring from my wounds, I dodged her attack, Pulsing up my hands and feet. I hit her with a Pulse Punch in the back, before following it up with another. She spun around, only to have a Pulse Kick be delivered directly to her face. She went flying across the room, and I went chasing after her. I slowed slightly as I reached her. I detonated a Dark Pulse right next to her torso, the force causing her launch into the air, flailing. I hit her in the back with a Pulse Punch, causing her to raise even more. I backed up slightly, before running towards Entei and launching myself into the air with my Dark Pulses. I spun in a circle, charging an exceptionally powerful Dark Pulse in my hand, before slamming my fist into her chest. She shot to the floor, hitting it with enough force to create a large crater. I landed next to her, allowing me to confirm her inability to fight. I stepped out of the crater, glaring at duo that was left. Moltres immediately shot her chains out at me, and they wrapped themselves around my arms, causing me to grit my teeth against the pain as they hit my shoulders.

I just smirked at her, asking, "Did you really think that that would work?"

I used my hands to grip the chains, before pulling them towards me. Moltres tried to resist, but she inevitably failed, and I ripped the chains from her arms, leaving them coiled around mine. Before she had the chance to call them back, I launched a chain out, ignoring the burning sensation coating my arms, and wrapped it around the phoenix's neck. She let out a choked gasp, as I took off running to a nearby wall. When I reached it, I tugged on the chain sharply, causing Moltres to fly over to me.

I knelt down next to her, and asked, "Do you submit?"

She looked up at me defiantly and shook her head, deciding her fate. I quickly wrapped the other chain around her neck, before placing a Dark Pulse charged foot on the wall. Concentrating on my movements, speed, and balance, I detonated the Pulse, using the explosive force to send me up the wall. I continued the process with my other foot, alternating each step, until I was sprinting up the wall, dragging the choking Moltres behind me. As we neared the domed roof, I sent a large Shadow Ball flying to the ceiling, making a large hole in it, exposing the room to sunlight. Just before I hit the hole, I spawned Strife, stabbing him into the wall in front of me, horizontally. I leapt onto the blade, whipping the chains perfectly, to where they unraveled from Moltres's neck, sending her flying out of the hole and into the sky. I charged up a Pulse Jump, before releasing it, launching myself up after her. I caught her by the neck, sending her crashing to the roof. I landed next to her, the distance from the crowd inside blocking out the sound, to where all I heard was the sound of the forest Pokemon and Moltres's heavy breathing as she gasped for air. And, of course, the sound of my fur and flesh slowly burning, but I'm trying to block that out.

"So," I began, leaning down, "do I win yet? Are you willing to just allow this to stop?"

Moltres coughed multiple times, before replying, "Never, trash!"

"Then just remember," I told her, "you chose this."

I spawned Strife in my hand, before stabbing it into the phoenix's stomach. She let out a loud yell of pain, but she continued trying to lash out at me and free herself. I charged a Dark Pulse on my feet, readying myself for what I was about to do.

"I'm sorry." I told her. "I genuinely am. But you brought this upon yourself."

I detonated the attacks, causing the roof to explode under us. We went plummeting to the ground, Strife imbedded in Moltre's stomach, my feet on her chest, and her chains still wrapped around my arms. The crowd went silent as we fell, the only sound being the music playing and the fire on the chains. We hit the floor a few seconds later, just as the song hit the last few seconds, and I had to brace myself to keep my knees from buckling. I looked down at the motionless Legend under me, knowing that within a few hours she'd be back alive, possibly having learned nothing from this encounter. This thought in my mind, I pulled Strife from her stomach, stepping off of her chest. I fixed my eyes on the shocked Chelsea, beginning to head over to her, dragging Strife behind me, leaving a bloody trail. As I got closer to the Arcanine, I saw her shocked and defiant expression change to a scared one, one of fear. When I got close to her, she dropped her weapons, going to her knees, shielding her face with her hands.

"I'm sorry." She begged me, as I stood in front of her. "I'm sorry for what I've called you. You win, okay? You win. Just please don't kill me."

Instead of attacking, I dropped Strife, as well as Moltres's chains, before kneeling down in front of Chelsea. I moved her hands out of the way, before cupping her chin in my hand and moving her face to look at me.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Chelsea." I told her.

"R-Really?" She asked me, the fear beginning to leave her eyes. "But I thought that you wanted revenge."

I sighed, shaking my head, and replied, "This was never about revenge. It takes a hell of a lot to make me truly want someone dead and, despite what you've done to me, I don't want you going anywhere. All I want is a little respect."

"Respect?" She asked.

"Yes." I told her. "Chelsea, we're equals. All of us are. You are my comrade, my ally, and a potential friend. All I want is for you to act like that. No more insults, no more bigotry, and no more bullying. All I want is for us to get along, and for us to work together to save this hell-hole we call Earth. But that can't be accomplished if we aren't all working together. That was the main point of this fight. So, can we stop with the hate? Can we work together, like we are meant to?"

She seemed slightly hesitant, before nodding, replying, "Yes. We can work together."

I nodded back, replying, "Thank you."

I stood up, grabbed Strife, and started over to the silent group by the door. Instead of stopping, I just went past them, dragging Strife behind me, and out the door. I turned down the hallway, heading for the infirmary. After a few seconds, I heard footsteps rush up behind me, before I was joined by Mew, Darkrai, and Shelby. They stayed silent as we continued down the hall. I turned into the infirmary, already heading for one of the medicine drawers. I opened it, taking out a bottle of painkillers. I popped open the bottle, knocked a few of the tablets into my palm, and downed them. I turned around, to see that the others had their eyes on me.

"Yes?" I asked them.

"Did you not just see what happened back there?" Mew asked me, shocked.

"Well, not technically." I replied. "Y'know, on account of me being the one doing it."

"Shane, you kicked ass." Shelby told me. "Major ass."

I just shrugged, as Darkrai asked, "Shane, why didn't you ever tell us about this? About how good you are?"

"I just didn't." I replied. "I wanted to keep it a secret. So, does this mean that you take me back as your Champion?"

"Is that what this was all about?" Darkrai asked me. "About getting me to accept you again?"

"To an extent, yes." I replied. "I wasn't lying back there, though."

Darkrai wrapped me in a hug, causing me to wince in pain. She tried to pull back, but I returned the hug, pulling her to my chest.

"Relax." I told her. "It's a maintainable pain."

We broke apart, and she looked up at me.

"So, does this mean that we're good?" I asked.

Darkrai chuckled, before replying, "Of course. Just don't go almost killing yourself again."

I returned the laugh, and said, "No promises."

Just then, the door opened, revealing Arceus.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she opened, "but may I speak with Shane alone for a minute."

"Of course." Darkrai replied, nodding.

Darkrai and Mew left the room, and Arceus came in.

Shelby pulled me into a light hug, and said, "I'll be outside."

"Could you get me something to drink, please?" I asked my girlfriend. "Being partially coated in fire and currently slowly bleeding out really makes you thirsty."

She chuckled, and replied, "Of course. I'm honestly slightly impressed by how well you're keeping your cool while bleeding on yourself."

I just shrugged, and said, "C'mon, you know that it's not the first time."

"Yeah, I guess." She agreed, pulling away. "I'll be back."

I nodded in response, as she left the room. Arceus closed the door behind Shelby, before turning to face me.

"Well, that was interesting." She opened.

"Yeah, I guess that it was." I agreed. "It went a little bit awry in the beginning, hence why I'm currently barely holding in screams of pain, but I still won."

"Indeed you did." She said. "and, not only that, but you seem to have changed a few opinions. Granted, you had to temporarily kill three Legends to do so, but it got your point across."

"Three?" I asked, confused.

She chuckled lightly, before explaining, "You didn't really believe that Entei took that beating and just fell asleep, did you? Despite the strong attitude she likes to show, she isn't exactly the most powerful in a battle. One of the most charismatic, yes, but the two don't correlate, unfortunately."

"Yeah, I suppose." I agreed. "So, am I getting in trouble for staging an illegal battle?"

"Of course not, Shane." She reassured me. "Besides, even if I had intended to punish you, you have already done it to yourself."

I looked down at my body, completely understanding what she meant. The wounds in my hand and my shoulder were both bleeding, with my hand now beginning to clot, my shirt was fairly scorched, and my arms were red and burnt, the lower half being completely void of fur.

I chuckled, and said, "Yeah, I am pretty fucked up. Any chance that you could help with this?"

"I can fix the burns and the wounds, but I'm afraid that you'll have to wear a jacket for a while." She told me, walking over to me. "But, it's not like you haven't been wearing one for a while, anyway."

I laughed lightly, as she hovered her hands over my body, and I replied, "Very funny. But, I will need a new one. I can't exactly wear that outfit around her, can I?"

"No, I suppose not." She agreed, coating her hands in a white light. "Don't worry, I'll find you something. Come see me after dinner."

I felt a slight tingling sensation as my body was coated in the white light, blinding me. After a few seconds, I could see again. I looked at my body, examining the healing job. My wounds were completely healed, and the reddened skin of my arms had turned to a pale white.

"Holy shit, I need a tan." I joked.

Arceus laughed, before agreeing, "Yes, it does seem so."

She then walked up to me, before wrapping me into a hug, surprising me.

"I'm proud of you, Shane." She told me. "I really am."

"Th-thanks." I replied, returning the hug.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, before we broke apart.

"Well, I guess that I'll see you after dinner." Arceus told me, heading for the door. "Goodbye."

"Right." I replied.

She opened the door, before leaving. As I watched her turn out the door, I thought that I saw a small twinkle in her eye. _Is she… crying?_

* * *

P.O.V Change: Arceus

I closed the door behind me, before heading down the hallway. I started for my room, silently thanking the universe for the halls being empty. I eventually reached my room, which I entered, locking the door behind me. I went over to my bed, collapsing on it, letting out an exasperated sigh of defeat. As I lay there, I felt my tears begin to form, before rolling down my face. _I still can't believe that I did that to you, my son. I left you with those people, condemning you. If only I had known what was going to happen to you, I would have prevented it. I never would have let you leave. But what could I do? The others hated males. _I chuckled lightly. _But, here you are, changing their opinions. I honestly can't believe it. My own son, here, a Champion, changing the opinions that have existed for generations. _I smiled widely at the thought. _I'm so proud of you. If only you knew what you truly mean to me._

* * *

**Link:...**

**Ash:... Well, that was...**

**Link: Fun?**

**Ash: I was going to say brutal, but whatever.**

**Link: Well, hell, I liked it.**

**Ash: As did I, but it was still brutal.**

**Link: *Sigh* You've been talking to DiamondStor, haven't you?**

**Ash: What? I don't even know who that is!**

**Link: Nevermind. Anyway, hope you guys liked it. See you either with Izaak as he spends Christmas in the forest, or in the next chapter.**

**Ash:... You do realize that it's September, right?**


End file.
